At the end of June, the Central Bank of Argentina changed the conditions of access to the Single Foreign Exchange Market for the payment of imports, which means that imports will be temporarily limited to contain the outflow of foreign currency from the country, maintaining the level of international reserves. Thus, until the 30^th of September 2022, merchandise payments will only be released after 180 days.

In a meeting with the deputy and Chairman of the Mercosur and International Affairs Committee Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul, Issur Koch, the general consul of Argentina in the Rio Grande do Sul, Jorge Perren, and the Executive Director of the Commercial, Industrial and Services Association of Novo Hamburgo, Campo Bom and Estância Velha (ACI), Leandro Cezima, the Executive President of the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados), Haroldo Ferreira, expressed his concerns.

He stated that the measure could make the export operations of some companies for that market unviable. "Considering that the payment will occur six months after the arrival of the merchandise at the destination, some businesses will be affected and others will be unfeasible", he guaranteed.

The news took the Brazilian footwear sector by surprise at a time of recovery, as Argentina is the second main destination market for green and yellow footwear. From January to May 2022, Argentina purchased 6.82 million pairs of shoes, worth 74.62 million US dollars, which indicates an increase of 64% and 93.7% in volume and value, respectively, as compared to the same period of 2021.