International freight transport expressed concern about the situation in the sector, which was affected by the COVID 19 pandemic.
They denounce that the Ministry of Economy “has not taken measures to reactivate the sector, nor to guarantee fair competition with the companies of the region that operate in the country, nor to preserve the viability of companies that generate more than 10,000 direct jobs. and indirect ”.
Among the measures that have been proposed to the Ministry of Economy, but about which they have not received answers, is: “to control informality and minimize cost inequality with respect to Argentina and they propose that freight payments in Uruguay to Argentine companies should be processed through bank transfer to the country of origin, after withholding taxes ”.
Another of the proposals that has not yet been taken into account is “to carry the VAT on the national section of import freight at a rate of 0, since Uruguay is the only country in the region that taxes freight with VAT.”
No responses from the authorities
“Several months have passed since our request and without having any response from the authorities, we request that this priority be taken into consideration for companies with a national flag,” said Gastón Landa, general manager of the Uruguayan Chamber of International Land Transportation.
He indicated that Uruguayan companies are in crisis, since the pandemic attacked several neuralgic parts of the sector. He said that the region is affected by the volatility of the exchange market and the constant negative asymmetries that are generated with neighboring countries.
He highlighted difficulties in “operating costs, the value of freight and at the borders with slow traffic making the operation more expensive.”
He questioned that the State has no solutions and the contributions that they must make to the BPS, DGI, insurance and salaries are well above those of the region. In this context, they warned about the presence of informal companies.
“We are immersed in a perverse system, where the one who tries to do things well is the most harmed and where informality is indirectly promoted,” said Landa.
