On 20 April 2023, a bill of law was published, approval pending, to amend the Federal Consumer Protection Law to prohibit suppliers of goods, products or services from charging a commission or additional fee to consumers when they use a debit or credit card as a payment method instead of cash. The foregoing is motivated by the fact that this practice of some suppliers is detrimental to the consumers’ economy and discourages the use of debit or credit cards as a payment method.
On 30 March 2023, General Resolution 5,339 was published in the Official Gazette, by which the Federal Tax Authority modified the value added tax and income tax advanced payment regime on the importation of certain goods until 31 December 2023.
On 20 April 2023, the Central Bank of Argentina issued Communication “A” 7746 introducing modifications to the access to the foreign exchange market for the payment of certain services abroad. Communication “A” 7746 determines that the prior approval of such entity will be required to make certain payments abroad, provides a term of 180 calendar days for the sworn statements for transactions with securities, and extends the list of persons and entities that may access a special remunerated account based on the evolution of the reference exchange rate of Communication “A” 3500.
On 28 March 2023, the Mexican President introduced a bill to Congress, containing a decree that amends, adds and repeals various provisions of the Mining Law, the National Water Law, the Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection Law, and the General Law for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste, in relation to mining and water concessions.
Mining is a priority activity for a country’s economic growth, as it provides the minerals and raw materials needed for different industrial sectors. If approved as proposed, this initiative would hamper the development of the sector by restricting the exploration, exploitation and processing of these minerals.
The International Trade team of Estudio Echecopar, associated with Baker & McKenzie International, obtained an important decision in favor of several importers of processed food and non-alcoholic beverages, members of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, after the Court for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property ratified that the prohibition on the use of octagon adhesives in imported processed food constitutes a non-tariff trade barrier.
The Superintendent of the Venezuelan Tax Authority issued Administrative Ruling No. SNAT/2023/00005, which designates who may be designated as a special taxpayer, their obligations and other relevant aspects. The Ruling repealed Administrative Ruling No. SNAT/2007/06852 and entered in force on 15 March 2023.
On 11 April 2023, Congress approved the law that reduces the working schedule from 45 to 40 hours per week. Its publication in the Official Gazette is pending, but this should occur within the next few days. The law will mostly come into force gradually at different times.
On 17 April 2023, Argentina became the 23rd country to ratify Convention 108+, which aims to protect the privacy of individuals against possible abuses in the processing of their personal data. Argentina ratified Convention 108+ during the Privacy 2023 Symposium held in Venice between 17 and 21 April.
On Thursday 20 April 2023, President Boric –via national transmission– announced the new National Strategy for Lithium.
On 12 April, Justice Secretary Flavio Dino issued an ordinance that makes it possible to hold digital platforms accountable for the dissemination of content that promotes violence in schools. The document sets forth specific obligations for platforms, such as the immediate removal of certain content after a request from the competent authorities, systemic risk assessment, adoption of measures to prevent the spread of new threats to schools and a policy of active content moderation by application providers. In addition, platforms must prepare reports for the justice secretariat analyzing the risk factors of spreading certain illegal content, and whether recommendation algorithms or other algorithms used by platforms, as well as the content moderation practices adopted, contribute to such risk factors.