Editor’s Note
This article discusses a recent regulatory change in Argentina that removes licensing requirements for the import and export of artworks, facilitating freer movement of cultural goods.
The National Government yesterday modified the regulations of Law No. 24,633 through Decree 1037/2024, signed by President Javier Milei and countersigned by Ministers Guillermo Francos and Luis Caputo. This eliminates the requirement for owners and holders of artworks to obtain an export or import license when moving pieces, thereby allowing the free circulation of artistic goods to and from the country.
The new regulation also removes the limit on the number of artworks that can be transported, whether as hand luggage and/or consignment. Furthermore, for gallery owners, the period for temporary export and import is extended from one to five years, a historic demand from the sector that will allow for better dissemination of Argentine art abroad.
The decree also abolishes the Honorary Advisory Council and the option for the State or Argentine citizens to purchase works by artists deceased for more than 50 years, which increased bureaucracy in the first case and infringed on property rights in the second.
Now, only a sworn declaration regarding the value and legitimacy of the work before the General Directorate of Customs of the Tax and Customs Control Agency (ARCA) will be required. To access the 50% reduction in the value-added tax rate, importers must complete a form.
The decree applies to:
– Paintings on canvas, cardboard, paper, or any other support using oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil, sanguine, charcoal, ink, watercolor, tempera, by any technical procedure, without limitation regarding artistic creation.
– Collage and assemblage. Material paintings with or without paint application; paintings that introduce objects into their structure providing a relief effect; combination of painted picture and material assembly; works resulting exclusively from gluing and mounting various objects on boxes and/or plates or sheets.
– Sculptures: pieces in the round or in relief executed in stone, metals, wood, plaster, terracotta, clay, fiber cement, plastics, or other materials.
– Original engravings, prints, and lithographs. Impressions in etching, drypoint, burin, woodcuts, lithographs, and other plates engraved by any of the procedures used in that art; proofs obtained directly in black or color on one or more plates, excluding any mechanical or photomechanical process, artisanal serigraphs.
– Ceramics: works created by the action of fire on any kind of material, whether unique creations or in series, provided the latter constitutes a line of reproduction made by hand by the artist.
– Textile art comprising woven and non-woven techniques (handmade paper and felt), excluding any mechanical or industrial process made in series that does not constitute a line of reproduction made by hand by the artist nor constitute a craft.