WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/C/W/668 
13 April 2012 
 (12-1930) 
Council for Trade in Goods Original:   Spanish 
  
 
STATEMENT BY ARGENTINA ON AGENDA ITEM 5 OF THE MEETING OF THE 
COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS ON 30 MARCH 2012:  ARGENTINA'S IMPORT 
RESTRICTING POLICIES AND PRACTICES 
 
 
 The following statement delivered by the Secretary for International Economic Relations of 
Argentina, Ambassador Cecilia Nahón, at the meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods on 
30 March 2012, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Argentina. 
 
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 Thank you, Mr Chairman.  I am pleased to be here for the first time as Secretary for 
International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the 
Argentine Republic.  I thank delegations  for their warm words of welcome. 
 I have listened carefully to the statement de livered by certain members, with the same 
attitude of openness and dialogue that gui des Argentina's participation in this 
Organization.  Permit me to express our deep surprise and disquiet.  We categorically 
reject this statement as it has no basis in obj ective facts but is aimed, if anything, at 
creating a political issue, stigmatizing our country and seeking to put pressure on us to revise legitimate ongoing policies. 
 We see this as a political action because it does not involve precise questions 
concerning certain specific measures or sect oral policies, but rather an overall 
questioning of Argentina's trade policie s and practices, of a kind unprecedented in 
the WTO. 
 We are concerned at the serious systemic consequences that such an action could 
have.  First of all, for the developi ng countries as a whole, which could see 
themselves under threat and prevented from using legitimate trade policy instruments 
to promote their economic development in  the framework of the difficult climate 
created by the international economic cris is, with its epicentre in the developed 
countries.  Secondly, in terms of the credibility of the multilateral trading system as a 
whole, which could be perceived as an unjus t mechanism in which participants that 
are powerful, though few in number, can arbitrarily censure any of the other members with relatively less economic clout. 
 The unsubstantiated nature of this joint st atement is clearly evidenced by numerous 
objective elements which we shall set out below. 
 First , the statement unjustifiably characterizes  Argentina's existing trade policies and 
practices as "import restricting" and, on the basis of that improper and unilateral diagnosis, inadmissibly calls on Argentina to  "take immediate steps" to terminate G/C/W/668 
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  these measures or, failing that, to "provide a detailed written explanation" as to why 
they are consistent with WTO rules. 
 The use of such language prejudges the alle ged lack of validity and inconsistency 
with the international regulatory system of  the trade measures in force in Argentina 
and fails to substantiate th ose allegations.  On the othe r hand, general and imprecise 
reference is made to certain "concerns " said to have been raised by "many 
companies" in the signatory countries. 
 As a founding Member of the WTO, Arge ntina reaffirms its unwavering commitment 
to the multilateral trading system, with th e WTO at its core.  Our country will 
continue to provide information on its trade policy as it has been doing since the creation of this body.  At the meetings of this Council for Trade in Goods and the 
Committee on Import Licensing, Argentina has repeatedly responded to the concerns 
raised by other delegations, both orally and in writing, since 2007.  This demonstrates 
our firm commitment to the principles of th is Organization relating to notifications 
and transparency.  We reaffirm our desire to continue responding to the concerns raised by our trading partners, which is demonstrated by my presence here today, 
together with my team. 
 However, Argentina's trade policy is no mystery.  Like more than 100 other 
Members, we have a system of automatic and non-automatic licensing, which is compatible with WTO rules and the inte rnational commitments that we have 
assumed.  As was notified to the Committee on Import Licensing on 8 March 2011, in February of that year there was an incr ease in the tariff lines covered by such 
licences, which currently apply to 6 per cent of the tariff universe. 
 I well recall that, when Argentina reported on the new licences to be introduced, there 
was much "concern" about their possible impact on the import trade.  Nevertheless, that concern proved to be unfounded sin ce, as we shall see, Argentine imports 
recorded one of the highest growth rates in the world in 2011. 
 At the same time, as part of our trad e policy and in order to ensure greater 
transparency in the licensing process, f acilitate the operations of importers and 
streamline non-automatic licensing procedures,  the integrated system of foreign 
trade (SISCO), aimed at computerizing in formation management, was introduced in 
March 2011.  Thus, the importe r concerned may initiate the procedure online, with 
the help of manuals, explanatory videos a nd help desks available on the website of 
the Secretariat of Foreign Trade. 
 Another measure that has been adopted to facilitate and simplify trading operations is 
the advance sworn import declaration (DJAI), introduced last January as a "single electronic window", which is used in a si milar manner by more than 20 countries.  
This tool provides access to advance info rmation on all imports, ensuring greater 
predictability for commercial operators and improved efficiency and effectiveness in 
government management, in accordance with the Framework of Standards to Secure 
and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE) of the World Customs Organization (WCO). 
 In short, Argentina's trade policy measures ar e fully consistent with the international 
commitments it has assumed.  Argentine trad e policy is not import restrictive, and 
this is confirmed by the empirical evidence.  G/C/W/668 
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   Secondly , contrary to the assertion contained in the recently submitted statement, 
Argentina has been making an important contribution, in relative terms, to sustaining global economic growth, since it is one of the countries showing the highest increase 
in imports in recent years.  This increase h as been achieved against the background of 
the remarkable upsurge of the Argentine ec onomy, which grew at an average rate of 
7.6 per cent between 2003 and 2010, reaching 8. 9 per cent in 2011.  There is no doubt 
that the dynamic and prolonged expansion of economic activity recorded in those years has boosted Argentina's international tr ade and, in particular, has substantially 
increased our country's demand for imports. 
 We should like to provide concrete evid ence concerning recent trends in imports.  
Year on year since 2006, with the sole ex ception of 2009, Argentina has broken its 
record for imports, which in 2011 amounted to US$74 billion. 
 Total Argentine imports grew by 434 per cent between 2003 and 2011.  In 2011 in 
particular, Argentina was one of the countries in the world that saw the greatest increase in imports year on year (+30.8 per cent), and this increase was observed under the six main headings used for th e classification of Argentine external 
purchases according to economic use.
1 
 This increase in Argentine imports covers an  extremely wide range of origins:  2011 
saw an upswing in Argentine external pur chases from all continents and more than 
150 countries. 
 It is noteworthy that in 2011, Argentin a - with the above-mentioned 30.8 per cent 
increase - was the G-20 country that record ed the highest growth in imports in 
relative terms.  Among the Latin American economies, Argentina was also one of the 
countries with the biggest increase in imports.  Significantly, none of the co-sponsors 
of the joint statement under considerati on recorded a year-on-year expansion of 
imports in 2011 at a rate higher than that achieved by Argentina. 
 In concrete terms, Argentina's purchas es from 14 Members that have signed this 
statement grew by 24.6 per cent in 2011.  Two-digit growth was achieved in most 
cases.  It can hardly be argued, therefore,  that the companies of these countries were 
not able to export their products to Argentina. 
 The buoyancy of Argentine import demand is a function, as we have mentioned, of 
the strong growth of economic activity, which is  fully reflected in the variations in the 
quantities of imports, over and above pri ce trends.  In fact, according to the 
IMF's World Economic Outlook, while the le vel of imports by developed economies 
grew by only 4.8 per cent in 2011 on a year-on-year basis, compared with 7.1 per cent for the emerging countries, the change in  import quantities reached 24.7 per cent in 
the case of Argentina. 
 As a result, Argentina increased its share of global imports by 8 per cent, from 
0.37 per cent of the total in 2010 to 0.40 per cent in 2011, while at the same time 
maintaining a positive trade balance of more than US$10 billion. 
 There is conclusive evidence to show that  Argentina's relative contribution to global 
aggregate demand has been more than proportiona l to its size over the last year.  It is 
                                                      
1 Capital goods, intermediate goods,  fuel, parts and accessories for ca pital goods, consumer goods and 
passenger motor vehicles. G/C/W/668 
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  extremely difficult to estimate the size of the expected increase in Argentina's 
contribution to trade flows and global growth. 
 Thirdly , it is surprising that this statement is addressed to an emerging country like 
Argentina, when it is the developed count ries which impose the greatest restrictions 
on world trade and which not only refuse to revise their long-standing protectionist 
practices, such as trade-distorting subsidies, quotas, tariff escalation and tariff peaks, 
but also introduce new para-tariff trade restrictions which cause so much harm to world trade and mainly impact developing countries like Argentina. 
 Our country is particularly concerned at the lack of progress in the Doha Round in 
respect of agriculture, which could have contributed to balancing the level of 
liberalization achieved in the industrial sector , thereby redressing an historical debt 
owed to the developing world. 
 On the contrary, the progress achieved in  the Uruguay Round is increasingly impaired 
by the proliferation of sanitary, phyto sanitary and technical barriers and by new 
barriers allegedly justified, inter alia , by environmental protection, animal welfare, 
private standards and consumer rights.  These are serious restrictions which are a major source of concern for our producers and our regional econom ies and which will 
be exacerbated by the forthcoming dismantling of the Generalized System of 
Preferences. 
 There are numerous examples of restrictions on access, of the kind already 
mentioned, faced by Argentine producers and exporters in the markets of many of the 
Members that have signed this statement.  Some, but not all, of the products affected 
are:  meat (bovine and poultry), dairy produc ts, citrus, fresh fruits and premium fruits, 
pharmacological products, biodiesel, genetically modified products, queen bees, 
barley, etc.  If only the co-sponsoring countries would purchase these products from 
Argentina in the same way as we import from them. 
 An honest assessment of the multilateral tr ading system shows that it is not the 
licences imposed by Argentina and by so many other countries, but the traditional distorting measures applied mainly in the developed countries which are the root cause of the real problems in international trade.  These are the real obstacles to the 
construction of a more balanced multilateral system.  On top of the enormous sums 
devoted to domestic support for agricultur al producers, millions have gone into fiscal 
and monetary stimulus packages in recent years to meet the global crisis, and it has not yet been possible to measure the true extent of the global distortionary impact of that crisis. 
 Conclusion .  The world is currently submerged in an unprecedented crisis which 
originated in the developed countries.  The emerging countries are making a 
substantial contribution to global aggregat e demand, which is also unprecedented.  
Argentina has made a major effort by increasing its imports in 2011.  Can an 
emerging country which increased its imports by nearly 31 per cent be described as a 
trade-restricting country?  Why is our country  being asked to make a greater effort in 
terms of imports than that made by other countries that have signed this statement? 
 Argentina is a healthy economy with a grow th model that has proved its worth over 
the past nine years, and this has been reflected in a continuous increase in its 
international import and export trade.  Fr om our point of view, this statement  G/C/W/668 
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  represents an unfounded challenge to Arge ntina's legitimate government policies 
which are applied in accordance with WTO rules. 
 We reject this type of unjustified pressure, together with the value judgements on 
Argentina's compliance with international responsibilities in forums other than this 
one.  What is more, this joint statement c ould be interpreted as a line of action aimed 
at narrowing the scope of emerging countri es' legitimate economic policy, with the 
ultimate aim of dumping on their dynamic do mestic markets the exportable surpluses 
of developed countries currently in crisis, whose contractionary fiscal policies are limiting global aggregate demand.  We object , therefore, to being made into an 
example to discourage developing countries from using the public policies we are fairly entitled to use. 
 In our view, in a context like the current one, we must guarantee a margin of political 
action for all countries, devel oped and developing, in the context of the international 
commitments they have assumed, and we must concern ourselves with eliminating the real distortions to the international trading system;  this will no doubt contribute to a more just and inclusive world. 
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