Argentina

Stores List Declarations

In previous Bulletins, we have reported difficulties faced by Members when dealing with Customs authorities in Argentina, especially relating to the declaration of lub oils, bunkers, chemicals, spare parts, grabs and other items in the stores list.

The Club’s Local correspondents have informed us that they are noting a rising number of fines being issued to vessels due to sump tank lub oil not being declared. General practice worldwide considers sump tank oil to be a constant on the vessel, but Argentinean Customs Authorities consider the non-declaration of this oil to be a customs infringement and have issued fines based on this.

If the sump tank oil is not declared, Customs will insist that the oil must be discharged from the vessel within 48 hours and taken to an approved storage depot. If not discharged, Owners must put up a cash guarantee for twice the market value of the oil. The Custom’s authorities consider the price to be around 7-10 USD per litre, whereas the actual market value worldwide is around 1.5-2 USD per litre.

These issues can potentially cause major problems and could cause delays to vessels.

We advise that Members include sump tank oil in their store list declarations, especially when calling at San Nicolas.
Furthermore, we would like to remind Members that extra care should be taken when declaring store list quantities, as the Club has seen numerous occasions where quantities of lub oils and chemicals are duplicated with the stores list, and when checked during a Customs inspection can lead to fines being given for shortages that do not exist.