Resources

Customs & trade glossary.

The terms you'll run into most often when importing or exporting, explained in plain language.

24 terms across 5 categories, so you can jump straight to the one you need.

Documentation

The paperwork and systems used to declare and track every operation.

Certificate of origin: A document certifying the country where a good was produced or manufactured. It's used to access tariff preferences or meet the destination country's requirements.
Customs broker: A professional who handles customs procedures on behalf of importers and exporters before the Aduana (Dirección General de Aduanas, ARCA), authorized under the Perfil de Despachante de Aduana/Declarante the agency requires.
Draft: The draft bill of lading (B/L) that the carrier or freight forwarder sends so the exporter can approve the details before the original is issued. It isn't a customs document.
SIM (MALVINA Computer System): The information system used by Argentina's customs authority to register, process and control import and export operations, where the declarations and documentation for each shipment are filed.
Tariff heading (NCM): The numeric code from the Mercosur Common Nomenclature that classifies a good by its nature. That classification determines the duties, requirements and regimes that apply to the operation.

Concepts specific to bringing goods into the country.

Assessment (aforo): The check customs performs on a declared good, verifying its classification, value, quantity and other declared data, either on paper or with a physical inspection.
Channel (green / orange / purple / red): The outcome of the risk-based selection customs applies to each shipment: green releases the goods with no further steps, orange requires a document review, and red adds a physical inspection before release. Since 2025 (RG ARCA 5644/2025) a fourth channel was added, purple.
Consolidation / deconsolidation: A consolidated shipment groups cargo from different senders or recipients into a single transport unit to save on cost and space; deconsolidating splits that cargo back out at destination to process each shipment individually.
Customs primary zone: The physical area under permanent customs control — ports, airports, border crossings and authorized warehouses — where goods remain until their release is authorized.

Concepts specific to sending goods out of the country.

DJVE (Sworn Export Sale Declaration): A declaration exporters register with the Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca (SAGyP) before shipping certain goods, mainly grains and their by-products, stating quantity, price and the other terms of the sale.
Export refund (reintegro): A benefit that refunds exporters, based on the value added produced domestically and capped at the taxable value, the domestic taxes that indirectly weighed on the exported good — so the country doesn't end up exporting taxes.
Permiso de embarque: The export shipment declaration already registered and finalized with customs (Aduana). It's the document that backs the goods' exit from the country; its number identifies the operation through to the cumplido de embarque (shipment completion record).
Shipment completion record (cumplido): The record confirming that a good declared for export actually left the country, closing that export shipment in the customs system.

Simplified or specific pathways depending on the type of operation.

Bonded warehouse (depósito fiscal): An authorized facility where goods can be stored under customs control, with duties suspended, while their final destination is decided: entering the local market, re-export, or another regime.
Door-to-door regime: A simplified regime for lower-value shipments — typically for individuals or small businesses — that clears goods with lighter paperwork than a standard commercial import or export.
Temporary import: A regime that allows goods into the country for a set period, with duties fully or partially suspended, provided they're later re-exported in the same condition or after a defined process.

How the value of an operation is built, and what gets taxed on it.

CIF value: Cost, Insurance and Freight: the value of the goods including their cost, insurance and international freight up to the destination port or airport. It's the usual basis for calculating import duties.
Customs value: The taxable base used to calculate import duties, determined from the transaction value of the goods plus other elements that make up their cost up to entry into the country.
Demurrage: The charge a shipping line or terminal collects when a container or the goods stay longer than agreed without being picked up or returned, past the free days included in the service.
FOB value: Free On Board: the value of the goods once loaded onto the transport at the country of origin, not including international freight or insurance. It's the usual basis for calculating export refunds.
Freight: The cost of transporting goods from origin to destination, by sea, air or land.
Import duty / tariff: The tax levied on a good entering the country, calculated as a percentage of its customs value according to its tariff heading.
Incoterms: A set of international trade terms — such as FOB, CIF or EXW — that define, in an international sale, who bears the costs, risks and procedures of transport at each stage of the operation.
Insurance: Coverage taken out to protect goods against damage, loss or theft during international transport.