URUGUAY

URUGUAY WHEREAS the Uruguayan government has decreed a change in the amount of import duty payable by newspapers and magazines for newsprint the new system requires prior authorization, ongoing oversight and even the possibility of setting quotas for provision of newsprint delegating authority over such essential and sensitive news supplies to a quasi-governmental body poses a serious risk for the maintenance of press freedom THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to urge the Uruguayan government to annul the June 12, 1996, decree that creates an import duty system requiring prior authorization and oversight of newsprint imports.