The government, through Ministerial Resolution (RM) 064/2022, annulled RM 450 of 2017, that, according to Édgar Montaño, Minister of Public Works, was a brake for any citizen or small company to import new vehicles.
Montaño maintained that, with the new norm, the monopoly and oligopoly of the 0km importing automobile companies is annulled, since the RM 450 as an essential requirement required that the interested party to buy a new vehicle must obtain an original note or permit from the manufacturer. That will no longer be requested, the authority remarked.
The minister maintained that the measure responds to article 314 of the Political Constitution of the State (CPE), which prohibits monopoly or oligopoly of any product or service that is generated in the private sector.
He also noted that the new provision is in support of the legal opinion of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), which in process 452 IP 2017 states: “that the owner of a trademark cannot prevent the importation of a product that is original and that it has been acquired either from the owner of the trademark or through a licensee linked to it”.
Montaño specified that Supreme Decree 3244 of July 5, 2017 is very clear in indicating that no original note from any manufacturer is necessary to perform an import, Therefore, the requirement of RM 450 is left without effect, which in his opinion violates the CEP and decree 3244.
“The benefits are that any Bolivian citizen will be able to import a new vehicle. It will have the same conditions as a large importer. The automotive fleet will be modernized at a fair price. The payment for the importation of new vehicles will be the same for both small importers and large ones”, the authority remarked.
Support
Miguel AramayoSecretary of Relations of the Confederation of Drivers of Bolivia, indicated that with this new measure public transport units may be renewed interdepartmental, interprovincial, urban transport and others.
The leader specified that the sector highlights the work of the Ministry of Public Works to end the monopoly of the big importing houses of new vehicles.
The executive of the National Confederation of Free Transport of Bolivia, William Condori, stated that the one who wins with this new resolution is the passenger, because from now on you will be able to use new and modern units, since when the import of 0km is opened, carriers will no longer depend exclusively on the current importers registered in the country.