Paraguay to complain over Argentina's Customs controls

Paraguay will protest against a Customs' measure applied by Argentina that, according to local merchants, it endangers the exports, President Federico Franco reported.

Shipping businessmen denounced that Argentina's Customs had applied a new measure that sets scanning and opening of containers, and that this hinders the commercial flow, as the containers are retained until their verification.

Paraguay's Customs stated that there was no official communication over this inspections. "Paraguay may be a poor, but decent country. We are going to protest over this issue and defend our sovereignty," Franco assured during a press conference.

The president highlighted that the political situation in the Mercosur bloc, formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, is complicated, and that Argentina is not contributing to resolve this problems by applying this kind of measures.

Mercosur had sanctioned Paraguay, leaving it aside until it holds general elections - expected for April 2013 - after ex President Fernando Lugo was removed from office by a controversial impeachment last June.

The country considers that the sanction and further incorporation of Venezuela as a member of the bloc were illegal. Buenos Aires is the main port for Paraguayan exports, along with Uruguay's Montevideo.

Paraguay, fourth soy global exporter and one of the main meat producers, exported for 3.848 billion dollars between January and September this year, 12 percent less than during the same period in 2011, according to Paraguay's Economic Analysis and Report Centre (CADEP).