Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-17
Imposition Of Penalties.

| The imposition of penalties is the
point in which South American customs
practice comes closest to the American
| exporter, and it is point which has re-
| ceived extended consideration in the
report. There are fines for delay in pre-
senting documents. fines for failure to
observe the formalities laid down by the
regulations, for smuggling, for falsifi-
cation OF documents and for various
other acts of omission commission on
the part of the importer, which do not,
however. directly affect the foreign ex-
| porter. American exporters are much
| more concerned with penalties imposed
Tor failure to observe the consular reg
ulationS or for inexact statements in
the consular invoice or the commercial
invoice that lead the importer into dec
larationS on his document that are
deemed false and sometimes lead to
heavy fines. In such cases the importer
naturally presents claim against the
American exporter for refund of his
loss. Unfortunately he frequently fails
to make clear just what the trouble was
and the American remains just as much
III the dark as ever. The report goes so
fully into the subject of fines and the
reasons underlying them that a care
full study of it viii clear UP many OBJ
scure points for our exporters.
In most South American countries
the appraiser. or other customs official
receives shares in the proceeds from
fines imposed. The purpose, obviously,
is to stimulate the zeal of the en-
ployes in requiring an exact perform
ance of the customs requirements In
practice the system seems to tend to
penalizing importers for unintentional
violations of the regulations. In Ar
gentina the appraiser who has rec
commended fine is recognized as the
defendant if the importer makes a pro-
test. and il the protest is sustained
may appeal to the ministry of finance.
In Chile and Peru a bonus to all en-
ployes has been substituted for a share
in the fines In Bolivia there is a COM
bination of the f1ne-sharing system
and the bonus system.
Customs Requirements Strict.
The customs requirements, as a rule,
are strict and must be followed pre-
cisely. They are based, in part. upon
preliminary declarations of the foreign
exporter, registered in the consular
invoice. All South American countries,
except Argentina. Uruguay and Para
quay, demand the presentation of in
voices, viseed by a consular officer. be-
fore goods may be entered In place
of the consular invoice. Argentina and
Paraguay accept q certificate of origin.
In actual practice, however, consular
invoice usually accompanies shipments
to Paraguay, and it is required by
Uruguayan law in case OF tranSShip-
ments via Montevideo. In the invoice
for shipments to Paraguay a declara-
ton of the country of origin is made,
and this is accepted as compliance with
the requirement of u certificate of ORR
gin. In shipments to Argentina the
certificate of origin usually omits the
value of the goods, the declaration be-
ing confined to a description of the
kind of merchandise and a statement
of the countries where produced.
All other countries of South Amer
lea are very strict in insisting upon
the consular invoice. even those coun
tries which have a tariff OF specific du-
ties and which. therefore do not base
the duties on the value OF the goods
Colombia and Venezuela particularly,
require on the consular invoice all the
information that must be shown on the
entry or manifest. ~ ssess
For the last ten years there has been
demand for tariff revision in practically
all South American Countries Chile has
Just adopted a new tartH after seveii
years of preparation, Colombia enacted
a new tariff in 1918 after three syearT