April 30, 2008
Argentine judge allows soy sale without new export tax, more may follow
Three soy farmers have been allowed by a federal judge to export their soy free from the new export tax, sparking hopes that more would soon follow, according to a report from local daily La Nacion Tuesday (April 29, 2008).
A federal judge in the Argentine city of Rosario has permitted three farmers to sell 90 tonnes of soy free from a higher export tax recently imposed by the federal government.
The three brothers, Rodolfo, Anibal and Lisandro Bollatti, had filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the new tax.
While the decision from the Rosario court only applies to the sales request filed by the Bollatti brothers, similar complaints are expected to follow.
On March 11, the government announced a sweeping overhaul of the export tax structure on grains and derivative products. Tax rates were based on a sliding scale, with rates increasing as export values rise. The new taxes initially pushed the export tax on soys up to about 45 percent, compared to 35 percent previously.
The decision from the Rosario court follows news last week that two other federal judges in Buenos Aires and Corrientes provinces agreed to hear lawsuits over the constitutionality of the new tax.
The complaints allege the higher taxes constitute a taking, or an unconstitutional seizure of property. The suits also say it is Congress which should impose taxes, not the executive branch, from which the new law came from.
Argentina's executive branch has employed emergency power decrees to bypass the legislative branch since 2002.
The legal challenges to the tax come amid negotiations between the farm sector and the government. Government officials and farm leaders met Monday in a bid to avert the resumption of strikes on May 2.
Farmers launched a three-week strike in March which saw the much of the country's farm exports and internal supply cut off. Farm leaders had vowed to resume blockades on May 2 if the government does not offer concrete concessions.
