Customs Factory: The government opens the program to the entire industry and its suppliers – Trade News | 17/04/26

The Argentine government expanded the Factory Customs Regime (RAF) through an executive decree that modifies its original framework to extend it to all industries and their suppliers, aiming to improve competitiveness and facilitate production in a challenging economic context. The regime allows companies to import raw materials, parts, components, and capital goods without paying duties at entry, under a suspensive system where taxes are paid only if the final product is sold domestically or eliminated if it is exported, and it had previously been used mainly by the automotive sector. Among the most significant changes, the introduction of the “associated supplier” figure enables contractors to import inputs integrated into production processes, while restrictions such as prior sector agreements and the requirement of a single global guarantee are removed, and the guarantee system is made more flexible to reduce costs and broaden access. Additionally, the measure sets a maximum 60-day period for application approval and assigns implementation to the Secretariat of Industry and the Agency for Revenue and Customs Control (ARCA), establishing a more open and cross-sector framework to strengthen industrial value chains. Link to Article