The Situation Members are at risk of significant fines being imposed should the vessel fail to properly and accurately declare its stores, provisions, fuel and other material on board, upon arrival at an Argentinian port. Members are referred to the Associations' previous advices found here under "Lessons to be learned" : Issue No 8 of June 2010 "Incorrect custom declaration - undeclared items". When a vessel is cleared in Argentina by the customs authorities on arrival at the  first  port of call, all spares and stores are required to be declared in the ship's Store List. Lack of declaration or any inaccuracies will constitute "prima facie" an infringement of customs regulations, particularly a breach of section 962 of the Customs Code. The Customs Code provides in Art 962, for fines and confiscation of goods found in infringement when: goods are hidden goods are situated at places reserved for crew access when the goods are in hands of a crewmember and when the goods had not been opportunely declared before the customs service Fines can amount to hundreds of thousands of USD, especially in cases concerning the mis-declaration of carried bunker fuel and lube-oil. Items that need to be declared are listed in general terms under section 507 of the Customs Code, which reads: QUOTE They are ''ship's store list'' the catering supplies and supplies of the vessel , fuel, spare parts, gear, utensils, groceries and other merchandise being on board the vessel for their own consumption and for its crew and passengers. UNQUOTE This is quite a wide definition and can include the vessels TV, video recorder, PC, etc. or 'miscellaneous' stores such as paint on board the vessel. Recommendations Members are recommended to ensure that declarations are complete and accurate before arrival in order to avoid potential delays, detentions and fines. In particular, care must be taken not to give any declaration that - even inadvertently - appear to over-declare or