MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina did nothing to charge toll, Paraguay's Waterway Commission finds

Argentina has not proven it has rendered any actual service to barges along the Parana River

Paraguay's National Waterway Commission concluded that Argentina's technical explanations for charging tolls to vessels sailing through the Parana River between the Port of Santa Fe and the Confluence with the Paraguay River were inadequate and that there was no justification for such a unilateral measure, it was reported in Asunción.

The Foreign Ministry explained in a statement that, after reviewing the documentation submitted by Argentina, from the technical perspective, it was determined that no information demonstrates dredging or beaconing interventions carried out in the section in question, necessary for safe navigation and that could justify the charging of a fee for a service actually rendered, as established by the Santa Cruz de la Sierra Agreement.

The document adds that Paraguay will attend Friday's LIX Meeting of the Commission of the Paraguay-Parana Waterway Agreement in Buenos Aires with the argument that technical analysis from river navigation experts both public and private reached such a conclusion.

Center of River and Maritime Shipowners (Cafym) Director Juan Carlos Muñoz said that Paraguay will seek to have the toll repealed during the meeting at the Uruguayan embassy in the Argentine capital. Muñoz also explained that the Paraguayan delegation has already finalized the documentation and was now waiting to see the position of the other member countries of the bloc (Bolivia, Brazil, and Uruguay), although it is assumed that they will support Paraguay's position, as was the case in previous meetings.

“It is estimated that this Friday's meeting of the Agreement Commission will be the last one and then we will have to see what the following instances may be,” he said. Invoices issued by the Argentine Ministry of Transport for the toll of US$ 1.47 per ton of net registration, from January to May of this year, were estimated at some US$ 5 million.

Only one company has so far paid, albeit under protest, some US$ 800,000.

(Source: ABC)