WORLD TRADE G/SCM/N/3/ARG/Suppl.1
28July1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3157)
Original: Spanish Committee onSubsidies and
Countervailing Measures
SUBSIDIES
Notifications Pursuant toArticle XVI.1 ofGATT 1994 andArticle 25
oftheAgreement onSubsidies andCountervailing Measures
ARGENTINA
Supplement
Thefollowingcommunication,dated16July1997,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofArgentina.
_______________
1. Titleofthesubsidy programme: Industrial Specialization Regime
Thisregime hasbeensuspended since 23August 1996 pursuant toDecree No.977/96: no
further programmes canbeapproved.
2. Period covered bythenotification
Theregime started in1993 andwillendon31December 1999.
3. Policy objective
Thiswasaprogramme aimed atfostering industrial andentrepreneurial redeployment inorder
toimprovecompetitiveness,bystimulatingspecializationinproductlines,soastoconcentrateproduction
andachieve better scales, andsupplementing supply onthedomestic market withimported goods.
Itwasahorizontal measure applying toallindustrial sectors.
4. Legislative authority
Decree No.2641 of29December 1992
Resolution ex-S.I.C. No.14of18January 1993
Resolution ex-S.I.C. No.80of24March 1993
Resolution ex-S.I.C. No.148of6May1993
5. Form ofthesubsidy
Tariff reduction. Beneficiary companies weregranted animport licence atdifferential tariffs
foruptotheamount oftheincrease intheirexports withrespect toabaseyear.
./.G/SCM/N/3/ARG/Suppl.1
Page2
Theproducts tobeimported hadtocorrespond tothesameproduction sector asthose exported
andfallwithin thesame chapter oftheformer Foreign Trade Nomenclature (NCE) orthepresent
MERCOSUR Common Nomenclature (NCM) (first twodigits).
6. Towhom andhowthesubsidy isprovided
Thebeneficiaries were industrial companies producing andexporting manufactured goods.
Theregime wasopentothevarious industrial sectors.
Thebenefit wasgranted onthebasis oftheannual increment inexports withrespect tothe
baseyearoftheprogramme, andonlyforproducts directly manufactured bythebeneficiary falling
within thetariff headings concerned. Thebaseyearwas1992.
Inthecaseofmulti-year programmes, thebasewasdiscounted foreachyearoftheprogramme
andthebenefit wasgranted ontheensuing increments. Enterprises submitting export programmes
withazerobasehadtoindicate theirlinks withlocalenterprises thatproduced orhadintherecent
pastproduced likegoods tothose theyintended toexport, inorder toavoid fraud.
After theexport documentation hadbeenchecked against thesupporting information fromthe
National Customs Administration, thebeneficiary wasgranted atariff reduction certificate toimport
goods foranamount equivalent totheincrement achieved. Thiscertificate wasnon-transferable and
valid foranon-extendable period of18months forusing upthebalances.
Differential tariff treatment ofimports:
Imports corresponding totheincrements achieved inexports under these programmes were
subject tothefollowing dutydifferential:
- 2percentuntil31December 1996;
- from1January 1997to31December 1999, thebenefit wastobereduced by
25percentannually untilthefulltariff ratewasreached.
Imports under these programmes alsopaidthe3percentstatistical tax.
7. Subsidy perunit,orfullexplanation
Itwasdifficult toestablish theamount ofsubsidy perenterprise given thedisparity anddifferent
scales oftheprogrammes approved. Itisconsidered perhaps more informative tosaythatonaverage
thebenefit represented, until1996, areduction of15points inthetariff, ondifferent amounts, depending
onthebasedataforeachenterprise anditsactual exports. Furthermore, thiswasthetheoretical
maximum cost,asthecertificate might ormight notbefullyused.
8. Duration ofthesubsidy
1993 to1999, inclusive, forexisting programmes. Theduration oftheaiddepended onthe
presentation, which could bemade through annual ormulti-annual programmes. Asmentioned above,
theregime wassuspended fornewprogrammes.
9. Statistical data
Since theregime wassuspended byDecree 977/96 andmostoftheprogrammes haveended,
thetrade effects cannot bequantified.