ARGENTINA

The national customs services of Argentina and Chile held the Binational Meeting on the Enforcement of Intellectual and Industrial Property Law in Chubut, Argentina. This activity was framed in a context of dynamic foreign trade between the two countries that poses a series of challenges to customs systems, such as electronic commerce, cross-border trade and the protection of fair trade.

Participants discussed inter-institutional relations to protect fair trade and citizens from low-quality products that are potentially harmful to health. It was also a meeting that enhanced the skills of inspectors through interaction with professional analysts from the Risk Analysis Unit of the Chilean Metropolitan Customs and officials from the Federal Administration of Public Revenues of Argentina, who gave an overview of their respective situations and challenges.   

The meeting was headed by the national director of Customs of Chile, José Ignacio Palma, who said the development of “illicit trade activities, smuggling or piracy” can have a negative impact on the economic development and competitiveness of both countries. He added that “we are updating criteria, filters, risk management and, in general, developing activities in conjunction with the Undersecretary of Finance; [and as part of] the Observatory of Illicit Trade, which answers to the the National Chamber of Commerce, we are very committed to continue developing actions to prevent these activities from proliferating further and negatively impacting the country’s trade.