Rather than improve or streamline foreign trade, the new customs law has only reduced the competitiveness of exports, said Jose Raul Gonzalez Merlo on a blog by the National Economic Research Center (CIEN).

"The new customs law comes and it's justified by the most childish of the arguments:" We are the only country in the region that doesn’t have one". And, as expected, the bureaucrats did something that now we are now used to a cut & paste job. The new law came with all kinds of "controls" and new requirements that nobody, not even the SAT, understood when it entered into force. Without a regulation to "clarify" the doubts, the relaxation was complete. These errors caused the suspension of customs and slow imports and exports. Realizing what they did, the government attempted to solve the bleeding with a band aid: they invented a temporary exemption of the new and expensive fines. However, the problem persists. The new requirements continue to make foreign trade slow, inefficient and expensive. What about smuggling? Fine, thanks. As always, only those who follow the law suffer the consequences," writes Gonzalez.

The author urges that in light of the improvisation and ignorance of the details of the law by the officials of the Government, the Minister of Finance must not only be challenged but also dismissed.

Source: Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales

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