At the request of the authorities of the Port of Buenos Aires, the National Directorate for Migration ordered a significant reduction on migration taxes imposed on vessels transhipping cargo in Argentina.
This decision is made within the a most favourable environment for dialogue and cooperation on waterway transport, which the Argentine Foreign Ministry has been promoting both at meetings under the Agreement on River Transport through the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway and at bilateral negotiations, including the meetings with the Republic of Paraguay in late 2018. This measure addresses a claim made by the countries bordering the Paraguay, Paraná and Uruguay rivers, requesting the removal of administrative barriers and the reduction of costs in order to foster exports from the region.
The reduction (90% in the Port of Buenos Aires and 99.2% in all other ports) will apply to ships arriving in and departing from Argentina which carry cargo for more than 300 km. This measure will not only increase the amount of cargo carried through the Paraguay and Parana rivers —which rose by 477% over the last two years— but will also create more jobs at Argentine ports, as well as more competitive logistics.
Decision No. 850/2019, which will enter into force on 1 March, was proposed by the Logistics Working Table established by President Mauricio Macri. Authorities of the Port of Buenos Aires, the Undersecretariat for Ports, Waterways and Merchant Navy of the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Production and Labour participate in this group.
