Guess why Argentina restricts book imports: possible lead poisoning from ink
Argentina does not ban the import of books, the latest measures have been implemented to safeguard human health since handling books could entail dangers originated in the lead content of the inks with which they are published.
The remarks regarding the latest restrictions on books and graphic materials imports belong to Juan Carlos Sacco, member of the Argentine Industrial Union, UIA, board who said handling overseas books with inks containing lead in quantities above 0.05% and 0.06% are threatening.
Following on the latest ruling each book purchaser will have to check at the Ezeiza airport Customs office that ink for printing the books must not contain more than 0.05/0.06% in its chemical composition.
“Resolution 453 is environmental” said Sacco because handling books with lead contents above the limits established can be dangerous: “you handle the book and possibly wet your finger with your tongue to turn a page: that can be very serious for human health”, underlined the entrepreneur.
Sacco insisted that there are no restrictions or limits to the import of graphic materials.
“There is not the minimum mention in any part of the regulations which states a ban on the import of books or bringing books from overseas”, said Sacco who nevertheless admitted that the resolution yes, has the intention of promoting printing of books in Argentina.
“In the last five years book imports totalled 140.00 tons equivalent to 550 million dollars. And in 2011 the misbalance was approximately 78% which represents a deficit of 125 million dollars”, underlined Sacco.
The latest restriction is particularly cumbersome and fatiguing for Argentine who purchase their books through a courier, since they will no longer be delivered at home but they will have to be claimed at the airport.
Besides big importers such as editorials and bookstores will have to appeal to the services of a customs broker and must before hand, present their import sworn statement that as with all Argentine imports can be approved or rejected.
Likewise the ink’s lead content becomes effective next July when samples will be taken from the incoming books and analyzed at special labs.
The purpose of resolution 453 is “to safeguard the security of the population through several control mechanisms used to eliminate the risks which result from the use of inks with high contents of lead in graphic materials”.
However the resolution does not mention if similar controls on lead content in inks will be applied to the domestic printing and graphic industries.
The resolution has been questioned by several Argentine experts in constitutional law arguing it clearly violates enshrined rights such at the freedom of expression and the free circulation of ideas.
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63 comments Feed
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Are these “Peter and Jane” books???
Or are they dot-to-dot books that reveal a picture of the falklands and the words “These should be ours” underneath?
I note BTW that the latest rumour is that Fat Max is to run for the Presidency when the elections next take place. Thats RG Land knackered.
Lol retards.
”Argentines ought to be grateful. Their government has taken action against one of the hitherto little remarked upon hazards of modern life: reading.
Just think: Argentines – and probably many more worldwide – have been unwittingly exposing themselves to potentially dangerous levels of lead in the ink in the publications they peruse. No longer. Under thoughtful new rules, imported books and magazines will be held up by customs authorities while the lead levels in the ink are checked – all in the name of public health and environmental protection, its supporters say.
On Twitter, however, few cheer this latest measure, viewing it not as a safeguard by a nanny state but a new Kafkaesque measure by a government bent on substituting foreign-made things for things that could be made by Argentines. Free the books, is the Twitter hashtag.
Is culture being held hostage to Argentina’s trade policy? Widgets can be substituted, but can foreign books?
Readers fear that orders from Amazon will require a trip to the customs department of the Ezeiza international airport, some 40km outside Buenos Aires, for the bureaucratic delight of being allowed, for a fee, to pick up orders that in other countries plop straight through the letterbox without any problems. Amazon did not answer beyondbrics’ request about how it and its customers would be impacted by the new rules, and no one could be reached in customs at Ezeiza for comment.
One medical publishing house was sent a sample of a weighty $300 tome recently, an industry source told beyondbrics. At Ezeiza, the representative was asked to pay $80 to be able to take it away. He declined and said: “Destroy it.”
Note that you now have to pay a fee to get the book back from customs. I wonder where that money goes to?
Who would have guessed that reading your child a bedtime story can kill you?
Hilarious!
Chuckle, chuckle....
”The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced Buenos Aires as the 2011 World Book Capital”
www.presstv.ir/detail/178757.html
Now we have it combined with a fear of ideas....
Sad..init
Well doesnt that just make your decision even more fucking stupid. clown.
I found your comment both insulting and based on erroneous facts.
Most of the people in Argentina reads, and many of them have college education because it's FREE. I honestly hope your country gives you the same chance.
As you can tell, I'm also a pretty decent English speaker (accent or not). Can you speak two languages? (or more, since I also speak French).
Whether or not you endorse this decision by my government does not entitle you to call ignorant an entire country, and assume all we do is talk about Falkland. That's probably all YOUR Government wants YOU to know about us.
Oh and paid education equals better education, and no indoctrination either lol
Yes, some college education is free and you have many eternal students attending. Most do not finish courses and the most common complaint I hear is that the professors at the free colleges fail to turn up, re-schedule at the last moment or are on strike. If they do manage to finish after 7 or 8 years, the degree is not well respected outside of Argentina. However, I give credit to the tenacity of the students who hang in there against the odds.
You are right that the majority of Argentines don't talk about the Falklands and don't care about the issue. The point is that the kind of people that do care are CFKC's key supporters. Thus the Argentine government keeps harping on about it.
Ugh, the language thing again. Argentines learn English to get better jobs but they are not unique in having English as a second language. And, for you information, most people I know in England speak at least three languages. Younger British people speak more because they travel so much; the world is their back yard. This opportunity is not so readily available to the majority of Argentines who complain to me about how hard it is for them to get visas even for holidays.
All that said, in my experience Argentines love to read and improve their minds. They must be pretty pissed off with the government right now.
Micronic lead is extremely dangerous, especially to children.
Given the Nazi tendency in Argentina I think we should encourage book burning on a large scale, especially in the Pink House. That really would make the Mad Bitch clinically mad / demented. :o)
Tonight:
@21
“And, for you information, most people I know in England speak at least three languages. Younger British people speak more because they travel so much; the world is their back yard.”
Not according to neither the EU nor the Economist my dear:
www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2009/09/the_disaster_of_monolingual_br
Regardez / Schauen Sie an / Olha / Look/ Mire:
europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=STAT/09/137&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
“No foreign language column” .... U.K:
ROTFL!!!!
“And there you have the results. Europe is becoming bilingual, except for Britons, who are becoming monolingual.”
(trust me dear, long term this is ruinous for you... because it is not just a matter of not knowing languages). If you don't even know you own country Elaine, how can you know mine? Is that trolling to question this? :)
And As I have said myself with different words:
”But Britain's unique (in the EU) refusal to study other people's languages still worries me. **Learning a foreign language teaches you humility, empathy and respect for others**.”
Pretty much explains away 90% of our British members behavior here.
BULL-sheet alert mode OFF.
*Threat succesfully neutralized*
(ps- Minor bullshit alert: Argentine passports are amongst the most accepted in the entire world with 150 countries not requiring visa. The USA has 160 and the UK 169... )
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Passports_by_country
*Neutralized*
Back to regular programming (Greekyoghurt in 3,2,1...)
@ 23 pobre loca, estás fuera de control.
Who could possibly believe the Falklanders wanted to be Argentines? Argentina is a waste of space.
“Guess why Argentina restricts book imports: possible lead poisoning from ink” poisoning ink hahaha Thanx, Peronistas.
My response was about the language issue, not the Falklands. So obviously you are illiterate. If you manage to find in @23 any comment of mine that merits your “Falklands” interjection, I will give you a biscuit.
You are a waste of time, specially since you claim to live in Argentina which is story no one believes. I obviously “hurt” your feelings with a deep laceration because of what I wrote being the truth, about your country, the UK, which poured salt into your feelings of superiority. So now you are sulking on a corner and responded to me with the most pathetic counterpunch I have ever witnessed in Internet debate forum history.
Go cry at the Economist and the European Union statistical office, little boy. If you can't handle the truth, well you know.
Unless you are going to argue to me the Economist is NOT to be trusted LOL (hint: The Economist / FT is the weapon of choice to attack Argentina, so your call: good or bad?) hahaha
Do you think that the RG's are right to stop importing books due to the potential death trap from the ink?
What happens if the imported books are in braille?
“And, for you information, most people I know in England speak at least three languages. Younger British people speak more because they travel so much; the world is their back yard”
“Younger British people” does not sound quite like your exclusive personal clique, is it? We all know what you implied, you got caught, admit it. No harm. Everyone gets caught by the Truth Telling Troll.
Ask xbarilox (about the indians), or Greekyoghurt (about the argie money abroad), or The Cestrian or Briton (about UK nuclear consent for nuking Japan), etc, etc...
I'm intelligent, or at the very least a cunning debater, no one here will deny it. I can tell many here are intimidated.
:)
You certainly have a hugely inflated ego but not much else. Self praise is no praise.
A cunning debater, yeah, your debates are so interesting. Thousands of words to say nothing at all.
I wouldnt call you a “cunning debater” I'd merely call you a c*nt.
I like many other Brits do not need to speak a foreign language as English is the only language I will ever need, any holiday resorts I visit always cater for English speaking people. For me learning a foreign language would be a waste of time as I would never need to speak it.
English is the universal language of communication, as your link proves. It is compulsory for most 'non English' speaking countries schools, to teach English. In international business English is a must.
So why do many English speaking countries inhabitants only speak one language? Because we don't need too, we already speak the universal language.
Bravo!
Spot on.
Yes Spot on...with your Brutish ignorance :-))
There's nothing factually incorrect about the fact that you speak the language of poor corrupt countries.
Kartoffelkopf Alejandro, do you not have some Le Camping goose stepping to do? Shouldn't you be out there marching around your statue of Maximo shouting 'seig heil, seig heil, seig heil' like you're instructed to?
The islands are British, bravo! :)
Sensationalist title if there ever was one. Gratz Mercopress.
For your information the Government has released a statement contradicting Mr. Sacco and that no bans will apply to foreign books or any printed material for personal use.
The fact is, they want to ban books because they spread dangerous non-'le camping' ideas, like 'where did Maximo put the $2.1 Billion?'.
For your information me cago en vos y en tu puta Cristina de Kirchner.
““In the last five years book imports totalled 140.00 tons equivalent to 550 million dollars. And in 2011 the misbalance was approximately 78% which represents a deficit of 125 million dollars”, underlined Sacco.” Will someone study Calculus from a book printed in Argentina? hahaha I don't think you.
it has nothing to do with fomenting ignorance as some people here stated - curiously enough even if the article clearly stated the move came from an industrial union.
and i do hope you are not argentinean... your uncalled for foul language and attacks makes you look rather primitive and reflects badly on others here who want to discuss the articles in a serious manner.
Back tracking yet again when the lunatics see what a laughing stock their policies make them look like. Pathetic. Backward.
What a fucking shambles.
The universal language is not English, fools. It is MATH. Which I doubt any of you know beyond adding like fractions and borrowing from tens, so much for using the time not spent learning languages wisely. You also don't learn much geography, as it is know Anglos suck at that too. History is not a forte either... so now that I think of it, do you guys actually learn anything in school? :(
I have never met a more rabid gang of over-egoes, I mean to be proud of being dummer and dimmer than the rest of the world, only the Anglos.
@ 51 qué pasa loca, ¿en pedo otra vez?
@ 53 Watch out, use gloves!
Sure... why would you need any foreign books? Better just read the mindfurked nonsense that they print in Argentina where “1+1=KFC is glorious”.
I don't know why you think British people are upset about this, we're not. Were just laughing at your Nazi state and it's clearly Goebellian controls on people's minds.
Plenty more laughs where this one came from.
I thought that the whole world loved your country and agreed with you over everything you did ?
Suits us fine.
1. “Dishonesty”: just go compare the respective positions of the UK and Argentina in the Transparecy International index;
2. “Cheating”: remember the “hand of God”?
3. “Backstabbing”: who bleats on about latin American solidarity, then causes real problems to countries like Uruguay and Paraguay by imposing protectionist trade restrictions which make a mockery of what Mercosur is meant to stand for?
4. “Genocidal”: remember the fate of the Mapuche Indians at the hands of your national hero Genaral Roca?
5. “Fools”: which country has repeatedly elected rabble rousing Peronist politicians who without fail lead the country up a blind alley?
6. “Innocent”: which country illegally invaded a small, peaceful and virtually undefended community, without any provocation, in 1982?
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