No more “ATP” films or over-16s – Argentina’s film classification system has just been changed.
Decree 50/2026, published on Tuesday in the Official Gazette and signed by President Javier Milei and Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni, repealed Decree 828, issued in 1984, and dissolved the long-standing Comisión Asesora de Exhibiciones Cinematográficas, or Advisory Commission on Cinematographic Exhibitions.
The measure seeks to “adapt the criteria to cultural and technological transformations” and to streamline administrative processes that, according to the recitals of the regulation, generated unnecessary delays.
Films, however, will still have age ratings and rules – they will just be adopted wholesale from the US film industry, the source of around two-thirds of the movies shown in domestic cinemas.
From now on, films arriving in local cinemas from the United States will automatically be given the classification criteria issued by authorities in Hollywood. For all other films, roughly one in three releases, responsibility will fall to Argentina’s National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA).
The Milei government argued that the domestic “classification of works already assessed in their countries of origin” represents an “unnecessary use of state resources” and generates “delays in distribution and exhibition.”
The advisory commission was created in 1984 after the return of democracy, with the explicit aim of putting an end to censorship imposed during the 1976–1983 military dictatorship.
In the decree, the government said the body had been “conceived in a historical context significantly different from the present” and had not “demonstrated the efficiency required to carry out classification functions in an agile and appropriate manner, due both to the rigidity of its collegiate structure and the lack of updated criteria.”
“With more than four decades having passed since the issuance of the aforementioned regulation, it is evident that the categories and criteria established there have become outdated,” it added.
New categories: G, SP, R-13, R-17 and 18+
The fine print of the new classification system, inspired by the US model, is set out in an annex to the decree.
The familiar ATP category, Apta para Todo Público (“Suitable for All Audiences”), will now be called G, for “General Audience”, meaning “general content, suitable for people of all ages”.
The next category is “Parental Supervision Suggested” (SP), defined as: “General content, suitable for people of all ages; however, guidance and supervision by adults is recommended, as certain content may not be appropriate for young children.”
There are then three categories with age restrictions, with fines laid out for exhibitors who fail to comply.
In two cases, minors are allowed provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian: restricted for under-13s and under-17s (R-13 and R-17).
The final restriction is the traditional one. Those aged 18 and over are free to watch any film.
Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger, a key figure behind the move, said in a post on social media that the change would offer cinemagoers greater freedom.
He also highlighted the “extraordinary” work of current INCAA chief Carlos Pirovano, claiming that the official is “restoring freedom to culture.”
Criticising previous “progressive governments” that failed to reform the existing system, he said state involvement in artistic industries “prostitutes culture by turning it into political propaganda.”
Milei’s government argued in the decree that the “primary responsibility for the control, guidance and supervision of the audiovisual content accessed by minors rests with their parents and/or guardians”.
Finally, the government highlighted that two out of every three films shown in Argentina, 65.86 percent according to 2024 data reported by INCAA, are of US origin.
In line with this, the decree aligns classification and exhibition criteria with those issued by authorities in the United States, while allowing INCAA the power to “adapt them to national criteria where appropriate” and to “modify, ex officio, original classifications” for “public-order reasons.”
The new regulations will come into effect within 60 calendar days.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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