Update on the entry and exit of works of art

✔I. Introduction 

As we approach arteba 2025, one of the most important contemporary art fairs in Latin America - which will take place in the City of Buenos Aires between August 27 and 31, 2025 -, it is appropriate to clarify the current procedures for importing and exporting works of art (1). 

These procedures were simplified as a result of the modifications introduced by Decree No. 1037/2024 (BO 25.11.2024) (“Decree 1037”) to Law No. 24.633 of “International Circulation of Works of Art” (BO 17.04.1996) and its amendment (“Law 24.633”), and the instrumentation of the Form “OM 3290 – Affidavit of Works of Art” ( "Form 3290”) within the scope of the Customs Collection and Control Agency – General Directorate of Customs (“ARCA-DGA      

It is argued that the normative definition of "Work of Art" is inconsistent with its actual understanding. In practice, the term "work of art" transcends its normative definition in several areas of meaning and appreciation, necessitating a constantly updated system for recognizing diverse artistic expressions or manifestations that emerge with cultural and historical development. Thus, the work "Fountain" (1917), attributed to Marcel Duchamp, consisting of a porcelain urinal signed "R. Mutt," is a near-perfect example of why a normative definition of "Work of Art" might fall short, and why a broader conceptual definition is needed.

The above is relevant due to the customs facilities and tax treatment legally granted to "Works of Art." It is necessary to consider their list, prior to import or export, to determine whether the works are subject to treatment under Law 24.633 or, on the contrary, whether other regulations must be observed.

✔II. Preliminary considerations

It is clarified that, in this publication, the terms “income” or “expense” are used as synonyms for “import” and “export”, respectively (2). 

Both imports and exports can be permanent or temporary. Entry or exit will be permanent if the purpose is for the artwork to remain in the country or abroad for an indefinite period, respectively. Temporary entry will be considered if the purpose of its import or export involves a limited stay, either within or outside the country, respectively. An example of temporary entry could be the exhibition of a work at the arteba 2025 fair. If its sale is finalized, a permanent import must be documented for its indefinite stay in the country.  

Further details on the various customs procedures available are provided below.

✔III. Works of Art

Art. 1 of Law 24.633 provides a definition of “Works of Art”, establishing that its provisions shall apply "the import and/or export of the following works of art by Argentine or foreign artists, handmade with or without the aid of production or application instruments, including airbrushes:

1.Paintings made on fabrics, canvases, cardboard, paper or any other type of support with applications of oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil, sanguine, charcoal, ink, watercolor, tempera, by any technical procedure, without limitation as to artistic creation.

2. Collage and assemblage. Material paintings with or without the application of paint; paintings that incorporate objects into their structure, creating a relief effect; a combination of painted paintings and material montage; works resulting exclusively from the gluing and mounting of various objects onto boxes and/or plates or sheets.

3. Sculptures: pieces in bulk or relief made of stone, metal, wood, plaster, terracotta, clay, fiber cement, plastics or other materials.

4.Original engravings, prints, and lithographs. Etchings, drypoint, burins, woodcuts, lithographs, and other plates engraved by any of the processes employed in that art; proofs obtained directly in black or color on one or more plates, excluding any mechanical or photomechanical process, and hand-made silkscreens.

5.Ceramics: Works made by firing any type of material, whether individual or serial creations, provided the latter constitutes a line of reproduction handmade by the artist.

6. Textile art, which includes woven and non-woven techniques (handmade paper and felt), excluding any mechanical or industrial process carried out in series and which do not constitute a line of reproduction made by hand by the artist or constitute a craft. In the event that the type of good, its origin or its quality cannot be determined, the Application Authority may intervene..

For its part, Art. 2 Law 24.633 excludes from its scope: "Copies, replicas, or reproductions of works of art; carvings in coral, ivory, or other luxury materials; or handmade artistic creations on pieces produced by mass-produced industrial processes.".

However, photography, video art, and electronic and digital art, including handmade artistic creations using mass-produced industrial pieces, are also not considered "Works of Art." Nor are conceptual art expressions: installations or art montages, performances, and instructions and their recordings in any format.

Consequently, other artistic manifestations have yet to be incorporated into the list transcribed above, with photography being perhaps the most important debt in this regard, in my opinion. Indeed, it cannot be argued in any way that photographs by Annemarie Heinrich (3), Adriana Lestido (4), Sara Facio (5), Anatole Saderman (6), Sameer Makarius (7), among many others, whose works, paradoxically, are part of the collection of works of art of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (8), should not be included in this normative definition of “Works of Art”. It should even be considered that, in many cases, artistic manifestations were immortalized through photographs, for example, photo-performances by Alberto Greco (9) or Liliana Maresca (10). 

✔IV. Modifications introduced by Decree 1037

Based on Art. 2 inc. a) of the Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines No. 27.742 (11), and through Decree 1037, the Executive Branch proceeded to modify Law 24.633.

1) First, Decree 1037 eliminated the need to process export licenses and import or export notices from the Ministry of Culture. 

An export license was required for works of art by unknown or anonymous artists, or by Argentine or foreign artists who had died more than 50 years prior to the date of application submission. This license could only be denied if the national State or third-party Argentine residents exercised the option to purchase the works of art. This mechanism was implemented if, for example, the work of art intended for export was deemed to constitute a unique testament to the development of the basic discipline to which the asset belonged and/or constituted an essential testimony to the history of the nation and the state, and there were no works of similar characteristics in publicly accessible collections.

According to the recitals of Decree 1037, this purchase option was interpreted as a violation of the constitutional guarantee of property rights, stating that the categorization of works of art under the established criteria was arbitrary and unreasonable, since it assumed that the mere passage of time implied that the work was more valuable or significant to national culture.

Furthermore, and according to the recitals of Decree 1037, there is no record of the exercise of the aforementioned purchase option, either by the National State or by third-party residents.

Additionally, it was considered that requiring a notice or license for export or import was an unnecessary bureaucratic obstacle and contrary to the free circulation of these artistic assets.

It should be noted that, both within the framework of processing the export license and the notice—which, in general, was issued within 24/48 business hours of the request—a check was carried out on the Interpol databases (i.e., the International Criminal Police Organization) to determine whether the Work of Art requested for import or export was listed as stolen or not. Today, this check can only be carried out upon well-founded suspicion at the time of verification of the Work of Art (for which immediate access to the aforementioned databases is required) or ex post. Within the framework of processing Form 3290, the applicant declares under oath that, as a bona fide possessor or holder, the transported objects are not part of the Cultural Heritage of the Nation, nor do they constitute stolen or illicitly acquired cultural objects. 

2) The transfer of works of art is free, governed by the commercial terms agreed upon between the exporter or importer and the carrier. There is no limit on the quantity, whether for export or import, whether as carry-on baggage, accompanied baggage, unaccompanied baggage, and/or as a parcel.

3) The importer or exporter is responsible for the value declared on Form 3290, which may be audited by the ARCA-DGA. 

Under the previous system, the Ministry of Culture required information on values to process its interventions.

In any case, Article 14 of Law 24.633 was not modified (12).

4) The period for the temporary export and import of Works of Art was set at a maximum of 5 years, a period that may eventually be extended by the Enforcing Authority (i.e., the Ministry of Culture), for one time only and for a period that may not exceed the original period. 

In the case of Arteba 2025, and as will be seen, the temporary import period was set at 60 calendar days. 

The rationale for extending the deadline to five years is linked, for example, to cases in which emblematic works of art by Argentine artists must be exported for exhibition in various museums around the world, with the deadline provided by the Customs Code for temporary exports being insufficient.

5) To enjoy the VAT reduction on the import of Works of Art for consumption, you only need to present to the ARCA-DGA the “Affidavit of Franchise Application – Decree No. 279/97”, which is now incorporated into Form 3290. Form 3290 serves as a sworn declaration for the application of the VAT exemption provided for in Decree No. 279/97, its amendments, and supplements; thus, the applicable VAT rate will be 10,5% (otherwise, it would be 21%).

6) Likewise, the repeal of Decree No. 217/2018, regulating Law 24.633, was ordered. In my opinion, Articles 3 and 4 of its Annex should have been maintained, since they clarified and provided certainty regarding import and export duties. Indeed, Articles 3 and 4 of Law 24.633 refer to the exemption "from the payment of any surcharge and/or customs or port fee, including fees for statistical services and storage, freight tax and consular expenses" (13).

✔V. Alternatives for the entry and exit of works

It should be noted that, in the case of the Arteba fair, the ARCA-DGA issues specific instructions annually. Until the 2024 Arteba fair, these instructions were issued through a general resolution, which was published in the Official Gazette. This year, they were notified to the Arteba Foundation through Report No. IF-2025-02955774-ARCA-DITECN#SDGTLA from the Technical Directorate of the ARCA-DGA, dated August 07.08.2025, XNUMX.

Below is a table related to the specific case of arteba 2025, to demonstrate the variety of situations that may arise in the context of the entry and exit of works of art for this purpose. This table does not cover other possible scenarios, which could be governed by other procedures and which will need to be analyzed specifically.  

(I.e.A. Temporary importation:

General comments	SIGN IN	Formality	Specific comments
In all cases, whether the entry is as cargo, courier, or accompanied baggage, the period of stay granted will be 60 calendar days. Under no circumstances should the import notice be processed further before the Ministry of Culture. While temporarily imported, the merchandise must not be used for any purpose other than display at Arteba 2025. This destination may be controlled by Customs.	a) In load condition	(i) For Fine Arts: must be documented in the Malvina computer system (“YES”) a Particular Destination of Temporary Importation, PIT Sub-regime, by AFIP Code No. 0000.04.14.000N “Works of art of Law No. 24.633”, temporary reason PA31.1B1001, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-IMPO”In this case, no guarantee should be provided for the taxes. Before documenting the Particular Destination, Form OM 3290 must be completed and registered. This form, among other information, establishes the value of the Work of Art. Its registration number must be declared in the Destination.    To complete Form 3290, you must go to the ARCA website and complete one Form 3290 for each work of art. That is, if you submit more than one work of art, you will need to complete more than one Form 3290. Once completed successfully, the ARCA system assigns a number and a QR code to each Form 3290. (ii) For merchandise No. defined as Works of Art (e.g., photograph): a Particular Destination of Temporary Importation, PIT Sub-regime, must be documented in the SIM by AFIP Code No. 0000.04.26.000N “Other reasons not contemplated”, temporary reason PA31.1B1001, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-IMPO”A guarantee must be provided for the taxes that would apply to a final destination, depending on the merchandise's tariff status and declared value.	To register a temporary import destination, individuals do not need to be registered as an "importer/exporter" or "declarant" with Argentine Customs. If they are not registered as an Importer, they must enter their AFIP CUIT (Tax Identification Number) and, in addition, they must also declare their personal information as "Complementary Information" on the "Additional Information" tab. The information mentioned is: "PARTRAZ-SOC," where they will enter their full name, and "PARTCUIT/L," where they will enter their "CUIT/CUIL." If the consignee is a foreigner, they must declare their full name and surname, along with their origin, in the "PARTRAZ-SOC" section. Their passport number or valid ID number must be entered in the "PARTCUIT/L" section.
	b) Merchandise that enters via Courier	If the artwork is imported by courier, the postal service provider (PSP/Courier) must verify that the temporary import status has been established on Form 3290.	Consequently, in this case, Form OM 3290 must be processed.
	c) Merchandise brought in as accompanied baggage	(i) In the case of Works of Art imported as accompanied baggage, the transaction must be recorded on Form 3290, signed by the possessor or holder in good faith. Form 3290 must clarify that this is a temporary import. (ii) In the case of merchandise not defined as Works of Art, entered as accompanied baggage, the transaction will be registered using Form OM-1860 “A” for Temporary Importation of Objects Transported as Baggage, and the signature of a resident of the country will not be required.	N/A

(I.e.B. Transfer due to sale and nationalization:

General comments	Formality	Specific comments
If the sale of works that were temporarily imported is finalized, so that they remain in Argentina permanently; that is, for an indefinite period, it is necessary:	(i) Carry out a transfer procedure with Customs, who will authorize it, with the importer and the buyer signing the document, after verifying their identity. This procedure will be recorded using a Multinota, providing the sales invoice and, for Works of Art, Form 3290, which serves as a sworn declaration for the application of the VAT exemption provided for in Decree No. 279/97, its amendments and supplements; thus, the applicable VAT will be 10,5% (otherwise, it would be 21%). y   (ii) A Particular Destination for Importation for Consumption must be documented (which will cancel the previous temporary import), Subregime PI83, with AFIP Code No. 0000.04.14.000N for the “Works of art of Law No. 24.633”, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-IMPO”, o, for works not included in Law No. 24.633 (e.g., photography, video art, etc.), AFIP Code No. 0000.04.26.000N “Other reasons not contemplated”, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-IMPO”.  When documenting these destinations, applicable import taxes must be paid.  If the entry was made using Form OM-1860 “A”, it must be cancelled by Customs.	The transfer and officialization procedures must be carried out at the Customs Office of registration (i.e., the Customs Office of entry).

C. Transfer for the purpose of sale and export

General comments	Formality	Specific comments
If the sale of temporarily entered works is finalized, so that they can be exported from Argentina abroad (within the period of temporary importation), it is necessary:	(i) Complete a transfer procedure with Customs, providing the sales invoice. Customs will formally authorize the transfer to the buyer for export, whether as accompanied or unaccompanied baggage, as a parcel, or as requested by the interested party.  (ii) This return abroad must be documented through a Particular Export Destination, Subregime PER1, with AFIP Code No. 0000.04.14.000N for the “Works of art of Law No. 24.633”, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-EXPO”, o For works not included in Law No. 24.633 (e.g., photography, video art, etc.), the AFIP Code is No. 0000.04.26.000N “Other reasons not contemplated”, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-EXPO”. If the entry was made using Form OM-1860 “A”, it must be cancelled by Customs.	No taxes should be paid, as the merchandise is temporarily imported and its re-exportation abroad is completed before the expiration of the granted period of stay. The transfer and officialization procedures must be carried out at the Customs Office of registration.

D. Return of temporarily imported work abroad

General comments	Formality	Specific comments
If the sale of the work entered temporarily No. it is specified:	Their return abroad must be documented through a particular export destination, Subregime PER1, with AFIP Code No. 0000.04.14.000N for “Works of art under Law No. 24.633”, declaring the “ARTEBA-EXPO” advantage, or for works not included in Law No. 24.633 (e.g., photography, video art, etc.), AFIP Code No. 0000.04.26.000N “Other reasons not contemplated”, declaring the “ARTEBA-EXPO” advantage. If the entry was made using Form OM-1860 “A”, it must be cancelled by Customs.	No tax is payable, since re-exportation would take place within the granted period of stay.

E. Export of works of national origin or nationalized - of free circulation - as a result of the sale

General comments	Formality	Specific comments
If the sale of works of national or nationalized origin is finalized (of free circulation), for them to be exported from Argentina, it is necessary:	(i) Process a particular export destination for consumption, Subregime PE01, with AFIP Code 0000.04.14.000N for the “Works of art of Law No. 24.633”, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-EXPO”, also completing and submitting Form 3290, o, if the goods are not included in Law No. 24.633, the AFIP Code will be No. 0000.04.26.000N “Other reasons not contemplated”, declaring the advantage “ARTEBA-EXPO”; o (ii) If it is a work of art and it is exported via accompanied or unaccompanied baggage, parcel, or courier, Form 3290 must be submitted.  In none of these cases will it be necessary to process a notice or export license with the Ministry of Culture.	Currently, the export of Works of Art would not be subject to the payment of export duties. Goods that do not fall within the definition of Works of Art may be subject to export duties, depending on their tariff status.

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1. The term "works of art," in lowercase, refers to works of art in general; that is, those included within the normative definition and those excluded from it. 
   On the contrary, the term Works of Art, capitalized, includes only those works included in the normative definition. 
2.  According to Article 9 of the Customs Code, import is the introduction of goods into a customs territory, while export is the removal of any goods from a customs territory.
3. Darmstadt, Germany, 09.01.1912 – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 22.09.2005.
4.  Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 07.01.1955.
5. San Isidro, 18.04.1932 – Buenos Aires, 18.06.2024.
6. Moscow, Russian Empire, 06.03.1904 – Buenos Aires, 31.10.1993.
7. Cairo, Egypt, 29.04.1924 – Buenos Aires, 04.08.2009.
8. The collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts can be explored at https://www.bellasartes.gob.ar/coleccion/.
9. Buenos Aires, 15.01.1931 – Barcelona, Spain, 14.10.1965. 
10. Avellaneda, province of Buenos Aires, 08.05.1951/13.11.1994/XNUMX – Buenos Aires, XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX.
11. Which, within the framework of the “Administrative reorganization”, provides: “The following are established as the basis for the legislative delegations provided for in this chapter: a) Improve the functioning of the State to achieve transparent, agile, efficient, effective, and quality public management in addressing the common good; […].”
12.  Which establishes: "The valuation of the work will in all cases be the valuation of the work that the applicant has made and communicated as a sworn statement.".
13.  Which provided:  "For the purposes of applying the provisions of Article 3 of Law No. 24.633 and its amendment, the taxes provided therein shall be deemed to include Export and Import Duties, Statistics Fees, Destination Verification, Storage and Extraordinary Services Fees, as well as freight tax and consular expenses.", and "For the purposes of applying the provisions of Article 4 of Law No. 24.633 and its amendment, the taxes provided therein shall be deemed to include Export and Import Duties, Statistics Fees, Destination Verification, Storage and Extraordinary Services Fees, as well as freight tax and consular expenses."respectively.