ARGENTINA I
WHEREAS
the Argentine press is experiencing a period of severe economic duress, due
to the confluence of several factors that threaten its normal operations
WHEREAS
circulation and advertising revenues have fallen to alarmingly low levels
in recent years, as a result of the protracted economic crisis that has hurt
the entire country
WHEREAS
costs have risen to extremely high levels, due to the increase in imported
supplies and equipment whose prices tripled as a result of the currency devaluation
WHEREAS
the various administrations that have led the country during this period have
imposed increasingly strict conditions and intensified the already onerous
tax pressures on media companies
WHEREAS
in 2000 it was decided to impose the value-added tax (VAT) on the cover price
of newspapers and magazines, a measure that was partially mitigated by the
so-called “Competitiveness Plans” and other similar programs until
they ended last June
WHEREAS
Principle 7 of the Declaration
of Chapultepec says, “Tariff and exchange policies, licenses for the
importation of paper or news-gathering equipment, the assigning of radio and
television frequencies and the granting or withdrawal of government advertising
may not be used to reward or punish the media or individual journalists”
THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF
THE IAPA RESOLVES
to join the Argentine press in asking the Argentine government for a thorough
solution in the face of this troublesome situation
to ask President Néstor
Kirchner, pending the implementation of said solution, to reinstate the system
whereby funds deposited as employer contributions are considered tax credits
for VAT purposes.
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