Carriers are complaining about the customs authorities of both sides, because of the imposition of controls which are causing delays. On the Guatemalan side, they are not authorizing the use of free lanes for the passage of empty vehicles, said Santiago Urrea, a Salvadoran carrier to Prensalibre.com .

Another obstacle is that the system of both countries is constantly interrupted and the network takes several hours to reset.

The Pedro de Alvarado customs is used by carriers as the corridor between Mexico and Central America for international trade. The average daily circulation is 300 trucks, of which 30 percent are vehicles in transit to Panama and 70 percent for all other countries in the region.

"Sometimes a single truck stops the whole process over little things and that forces everyone behind to stop, as there isn't adequate infrastructure to facilitate the movement," said Fernando Herrera, director of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters.

Source: prensalibre.com

More on this topic

La Hachadura Customs Post Open 24/7

April 2017

It has been announced that the service for processing foreign trade procedures between the customs posts Pedro de Alvarado and La Hachadura is to operate 24 hours a day.

From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala:

The export processing service between the customs posts Pedro de Alvarado and La Hachadura will operate continuously 24 hours a day as a result of pilot plan agreed between the authorities in Guatemala and El Salvador which aims to guarantee customs operations.

Blockades on Guatemala-El Salvador Border

February 2016

Guatemala carriers have blocked passage through customs posts at Pedro de Alvarado, Jutiapa, in protest against the excessive slowness of procedures for entering El Salvador.

The slowness of customs formalities as a result of the computer system crash caused some 300 carriers to form a blockade using their trucks from Sunday February 28th on the route to the customs office in Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado, located in Moyuta, in the Guatemalan department of Jutiapa, on the border with El Salvador.

Delays Continue at Customs Offices in El Salvador

May 2014

Problems persist in the process of reviewing merchandise at the border posts in Amatillo and La Hachadura causing delays to cargo trucks.

Double review processes, recurring failures with x-ray machine inspection and the absence of a contingency plan for unforeseen delays has generated delays of between 19 and 23 hours for the approval of entry and exit of goods, said the Salvadoran Association of International Freight Carriers (ASTIC).

Intervention Delaying Passage Through Customs in Guatemala

November 2013

With the decreed intervention the time it takes to pass through customs has doubled and even tripled in some cases.

Elperiodico.com.gt reports: "The militarization in customs offices and the lack of staff in the Tax Authority (SAT) are delaying the passage of trucks by between three and ten days."