Through Communique "A" 7201, dated January 7, 2021, the Argentine Central Bank (the "BCRA," after its acronym in Spanish) established new requirements for the import of luxury goods.

The Communique lists in Annexes I and II the items in the Mercosur Customs Tariff Codes that are affected by the measure.

The measure includes luxury cars and motorcycles; private jets worth more than one million dollars; recreational boats; alcoholic beverages such as champagne, whiskey, liqueurs and other spirits priced above US$ 50 per liter; caviar; pearls, diamonds and other precious stones.

 The BCRA's prior approval will be required to access the foreign exchange market to:

  • Pay for the import of goods listed in Annex I, except for importers who access the foreign exchange market 90 days from the dispatch of these products.
  • Pay for the import of goods listed in Annex II, except for importers who access the foreign exchange market 365 days from the dispatch of these products.
  • Financial institutions may access the foreign exchange market to cancel foreign commercial lines applied as of January 7, 2021 to finance the import of goods listed in Annexes I and II, except when that access takes place once the period established above has elapsed.

Imported goods with customs entry date as of January 7, 2021, that are listed in the Annexes and do not meet exemption criteria, may only be exempted from the prior BCRA approval requirement (section 2 of Communique "A"7030), once the above period has elapsed.

Originally published February 3, 2021 .

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