MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Countries of the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway against toll collection by Argentina

Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay insisted that Argentina should refrain from charging tolls until the matter is thoroughly reviewed

The group of countries that make up the Paraguay-Parana Waterway Agreement Committee suggested Argentina refrained from adopting measures that violate the agreed rules and stop charging tolls to barges passing through Santa Fe. The committee is made up of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Paraguay insisted that the Argentine toll constitutes a tax on international transport without agreement between the countries and does not correspond to services actually rendered to navigation. The delegations of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay also showed their serious concern about the issue, which they considered exceeds the regulatory provisions.

Thus, the four delegations agreed on the need to analyze the technical information provided by the Argentine Delegation within a period not exceeding 15 days and reaffirmed the request to suspend the application of Resolutions 625/2022 and 1023/2022 of the Argentine Ministry of Transportation until the issue is thoroughly reviewed.

The representatives of the four countries requested that the necessary measures be adopted to guarantee freedom of transit because it implies a direct burden on economic agents.

The committee also discussed the maximum dimensions of convoys in the waterway, surveys and inspections, and safety certificates for vessels, as well as other rules governing river navigation.