Argentina

At a glanceRequirements at a glance

CNRT Habilitación Required for Interjurisdictional Transport

Yes

Yes — Any company or individual transporting goods across a provincial border needs CNRT habilitación. Purely intra-provincial transport may not require CNRT habilitación, but does require the relevant province’s own transport authorization instead.

Company Registration Requirements

Yes

Yes — CUIT (tax identification), AFIP registration, clear tax standing, a mandatory civil liability insurance policy, clear VTV (vehicle roadworthiness) standing, and background checks for both the business owner and drivers.

Per-Vehicle Registration Required

Yes

Yes — Each vehicle must be registered individually with CNRT, requiring its own fee payment and, where applicable, physical inspection, before being placed into service.

Registration Process

Digital, through CNRT’s own system — Create a user account on argentina.gob.ar/transporte/cnrt, upload company documentation, register vehicles individually, pay the applicable fees, and complete a physical inspection if required, receiving a transport number and identifying stickers upon approval.

Habilitación Validity

Annual — CNRT habilitación must be renewed every year, with updated documentation (insurance, VTV, background checks) required at each renewal. Operating with an expired habilitación exposes the company to significant fines, vehicle impoundment, and, for repeat violations, disqualification from operating at all.

Consumer Protection

Yes

Yes — The Ley de Defensa del Consumidor (Law No. 24.240) provides the national consumer protection framework. Any consumer — including a tenant or family member who wasn’t the one who contracted the service — can bring a claim, not only the party who signed the contract.

Consumer Complaint Resources (For Movers Not Vetted as ITMs)

Yes, genuinely accessible — Consumers can reach Argentina’s national consumer protection service through a free hotline (0800-666-1518, weekdays 8am–4pm), a chatbot-based assistance service (TINA), or online through argentina.gob.ar’s dedicated complaint-filing service. Two distinct binding resolution paths are available: the Sistema Nacional de Arbitraje de Consumo and the Sistema de Resolución de Conflictos en las Relaciones de Consumo (COPREC). Provincial and city-level consumer protection offices (Buenos Aires city and province, among others) also operate their own complementary systems.

Industry Association

None dedicated — No domestic Argentine trade association specific to household moving was identified. Argentine international movers consistently reference direct membership in IAM (International Association of Movers) rather than a separate national body.

OverviewOverview & Scope

Argentina’s transport licensing hinges on a specific jurisdictional trigger: CNRT, the national transport regulator, only governs interjurisdictional transport — any move that crosses a provincial border. A mover operating purely within one province falls under that province’s own transport authority instead, meaning the applicable regulator for any given move depends on its actual route, not just where the company is based. CNRT registration itself runs through a fully digital system, requiring company-level documentation (CUIT, AFIP standing, mandatory insurance, clean VTV standing, background checks) and separate per-vehicle registration, renewed annually with updated documentation each year. On the consumer side, Argentina’s Ley de Defensa del Consumidor provides broad standing — even someone who didn’t sign the original contract can bring a claim — backed by a genuinely accessible, free, multi-channel complaint system and two distinct binding arbitration mechanisms.

RegistrationRegistration & Compliance Essentials

Movers must:

1. Determine whether the move is interjurisdictional or intra-provincial, since this determines whether CNRT or a provincial authority governs.
2. Register the company with CNRT (or the relevant provincial authority), including CUIT, AFIP registration, and clean tax standing.
3. Maintain a mandatory civil liability insurance policy as a condition of habilitación.
4. Register each vehicle individually with CNRT, paying the applicable fee and completing inspection where required.
5. Maintain clean VTV (vehicle roadworthiness) standing and pass background checks for the business owner and drivers.
6. Display the CNRT-issued identifying stickers on registered vehicles.
7. Renew habilitación annually, updating insurance, VTV, and background-check documentation each time.
8. Ensure consumer-facing practices comply with Ley de Defensa del Consumidor No. 24.240.
9. Retain CNRT habilitación, vehicle registration, insurance, and consumer-compliance documentation as required for renewal and regulatory review.

ChecklistCompliance checklist

• CNRT habilitación held for interjurisdictional transport, or provincial authorization for intra-provincial transportRequired
• CUIT, AFIP registration, and clean tax standing confirmedRequired
• Mandatory civil liability insurance policy in forceRequired
• Each vehicle individually registered with CNRTRequired
• Clean VTV standing maintainedRequired
• Background checks passed for owner and driversRequired
• CNRT identifying stickers displayedRequired
• Habilitación renewed annually with updated documentationRequired
• Consumer-facing practices compliant with Ley de Defensa del ConsumidorRequired
• CNRT, vehicle, insurance, and consumer-compliance records retainedRequired