Bolivia and Uruguay join Paraguay and pressure Argentina on waterway tolls

Both the governments and business organizations of Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay question Argentina at its insistence on charging tolls for vessels that use the Paraguay-Paraná waterway.

Paraguay already warned a few weeks ago that if the negotiation between governments does not prosper, the conflict could end up in arbitration.

The Chamber of Exporters, Logistics and Investment Promotion of Santacruz (Bolivia), the Paraguayan Industrial Union (UIP) and the Chamber of Industries of the Uruguay (CIU) have requested that the agreements on the waterway must be respected.

Through a statement, the three entities show their concern about the implementation of the Resolution of the Argentine Ministry of Transportation establishing a toll for the international transit of cargo vessels for dredging the Paraná River in a section that is subject to to the international legal regime of the Santa Cruz de la Sierra Agreement on Fluvial Transport.

For the signatories, the measure “represents a violation of regional regulations, which will mean a cost overrun for importing and exporting companies, affecting all logistics costs,” and they denounce that the principles of the River Transport Agreement for the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway “are being violated with the implementation of this resolution.”

They ask their governments to take the necessary steps to reverse the situation and appeal to the Argentine government to rectify urgently to respect the agreements and guarantee “the good performance of international trade.”

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

As announced by the Paraguayan Government, a meeting of the River Agreement Commission will take place on January 26.

The Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Integration Enrique Miguel Franco has also conveyed to the press the intention of the Paraguayan Government to hold a bilateral meeting with Argentina.

In June 1992, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Fluvial Transport Agreement in Las Leñas for the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway, a natural fluvial transport corridor of more than 3,400 km, which extends through the Paraná and Paraguay rivers, and allows continuous navigation between the ports of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

(Source: “Inter-American Seminar on Transport Infrastructure as an Integration Factor”. Chapter VIII. Paraguay-Paraná waterway project. Department of Regional Development and Environment, Executive Secretariat for Economic and Social Affairs, Organization of American States, Washington, D.C., 1995)

With information from Ciar Global