The United States has its sights set on La Salada Expo

For at least a decade, the North American government had been systematically complaining about this informal complex operating in Ingeniero Badge, Buenos Aires Province, which it identified at the time as “One of the largest open markets in Latin America” for informal trade.

But this is not the only thing that was pointed out: Latest report From the Office of the United States Trade Representative – Special Report 301 for 2024 on Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement- It also condemns the continued sale of counterfeit products online via social media networks in the country The growth of Internet piracy is due to the “almost non-existent” criminal legislation that permits this practice.

“Sales of counterfeit products remain high at other physical locations in smaller markets and through street vendors in the Once neighborhood of Buenos Aires and throughout the country,” the report said.

The North American government criticizes the country's weak response to these crimes.

The report says: “Argentine police generally do not act ex officio, and when there are legal procedures they suffer from excessive formality. When a case goes to trial, perpetrators rarely receive sentences.”

Mario Greenman, President Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services (CAC)“In the first months of the year, a slight decrease in illegal sales was observed, both in comparison between months and in relation to the same period in 2023. The number of illegal vending booths decreased on average in the months of February and September,” he said. March 2024 by 6.3% compared to the same period in 2023, but it is particularly concentrated in some areas, such as Once and Avenida Avellaneda. These neighborhoods focus on the ten blocks most affected by illegal sales in the entire city of Buenos Aires,” he enumerates.

“If we focus on piracy, on the other hand, it has seen strong growth, emerging as the area with the greatest influence. This area of ​​the city has led counterfeit products in the areas of clothing, footwear, optics, photography, watches and jewellery,” he adds.

Larger inspection in Argentina

The Ministry of Commerce indicated that a new national supervisory plan is being developed within the framework of the Federal Council for Domestic Trade.

Another current challenge, the North American organization notes, is that “the innovative chemical and agricultural sectors are not adequately protected against unfair commercial use and against leakage of tests and other data obtained to obtain product approval.”

In this sense, the limitations of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) are pointed out, which, according to the Americans, “continues to work with a small number of patent examiners, with limited resources that challenge the recruitment and retention” of personnel.

“Argentina made limited progress in intellectual property protection and enforcement in 2023,” the report insists.

Attack on intellectual property

The US assessment on intellectual property, trademarks and patents is conducted by contacting each country through a joint panel (TIFA) and the Innovation Forum, where each party presents its perspective and takes into account the issues raised.

“This year, because of the change of government, we will do it in June. There is La Salada, there are online sales. What they say is: you have the legislation, but you do not have the implementation, and that is the viability of law enforcement”.

In addition, the Industrial Chamber of Argentine Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Cilfa) issued a statement highlighting that “despite keeping Argentina on the priority watch list, the US government has radically changed its vision regarding the pharmaceutical sector, since it stopped doing so.” . Of objection to the legislative and regulatory policy related to pharmaceutical patents.

In the USTR report, in addition to Argentina, other countries appear on the priority watch list, for various reasons.

They are Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela. On the list of countries being followed, although not in priority order, are Algeria, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago. Türkiye and Turkmenistan.