A key factor in economies´competitiveness is the unrestricted movement of the available human and material resources, and this is where the customs integration of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador falls very short.
EDITORIAL
Jorge Cobas González Director of CentralAmericaData.COM
From October 20 a decree will be in effect which integrates into a single document the national legislation and the Uniform Central American Customs Code, necessary for Panama's full integration into the block.
The Director General of Customs, Jose Gomez Nunez, told Capital.com.pa that"... the institution is prepared for the implementation of Cabinet Decree No.
The economic and political stability that prevailed between 2011 and 2014 was not taken advantage of to implement relevant measures to deepen the policy of regional integration.
From the "Regional Integration" section of the V Report on the State of the Region 2016":
General Evaluation
Between 2011 and 2014, the Central American Integration System (SICA) did not face shocks such as the political crisis or the global economic recession that impacted this work at the end of the last decade.Despite this more favorable context, no significant progress was made in the integration process: no evidence was found that Member States had taken significant initiatives to deepen integrationist policies or modify the structure of regional institutions.
While authorities have reactivated the process for binational customs liberalization, entrepreneurs have pointed to constraints on issues related to bureaucracy, corruption, and infrastructure at border crossing points.
The governments of Guatemala and El Salvador have resumed work in Technical Groups to liberalize binational border posts. In a statement, they reported that dialogue has been revived over customs, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, migration, security, and legal and tax issues.
There is still no legal framework to manage the international cooperation funds that would finance the implementation of the customs union between the two countries.
Even though the Central American Economic Integration Secretariat (SIEC) announced "progress" in the process of the Customs Union between Guatemala and Honduras, Elperiodico.com.gt denounced the obstacles preventing it, "... the most visible being the establishment of a ministerial body. The body has still not been certified and therefore can not approve the creation of a "structural fund" where international cooperation resources would be deposited. "
The decree approved by the Guatemalan Congress was the missing step needed to implement the free movement of people and goods between the two Central American countries.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Trade:
Guatemala, January 22, 2016. The Congress of Guatemala yesterday approved a Protocol Enabling the Deep Integration towards the free movement of people and goods between the Republics of Guatemala and Honduras.
Posts will be set up in peripheral positions with third party countries, an integrated post in Agua Caliente, and free movement posts in El Florido and Entre Rios-Corinth.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Guatemala:
CUSTOMS UNION WILL PREVENT CORRUPTION IN CUSTOMS OFFICES
Despite the corruption scandals that tarnished the policy in Guatemala and Honduras, Honduran businessmen say the project of to unify the border posts at the end of the year is still moving forward.
Amid strikes, marches and demonstrations which have taken place in Guatemala and Honduras, working groups composed of representatives of the private sector in both countries and the government have not stopped working, as reported entrepreneurs like Maria Antonia Rivera, from the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Cortés.
Money in the pocket for every grandstanding politician and every wannabe business consultant, logistics in Central America is a much talked about theme on which no action is actually taken.
EDITORIAL
Logistics is vital for sustainable economic development, and it is perhaps the area of business management that has made the greatest strides in the last 50 years.
The first stage of the pilot program, which began on June 1, consists of transferring the post of El Florido Guatemala, to Honduran offices in Agua Caliente.
The second phase, scheduled for December, "... involves the installation of "peripheral posts", with which border points will be removed and turned into only crossing and control points, trade will through peripheral positions. " This will be possible once the congresses of both countries ratify the Enabling Protocol.
"It is we ourselves who are still looking ourselves as independent countries, when in fact we must work even harder on this unification."
In his article published in the magazine industry, the executive director of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala Javier Zepeda, describes the situation which as yet has not be able to be changed: the plan for regional integration only exists on paper. Noting the lack of political will, lack of customs modernization and low investment in infrastructure, Zepeda calls on the Central American private sector to focus on working collectively to realize the union of the region.
The agreement between the two governments states that as of December 15, 2015 customs offices at common borders will suspend their tax functions and allow the free movement of goods and people.
From a statement issued by the Government of Guatemala:
64 years after having started the process of Central American integration, the presidents of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, and Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, signed a historic agreement for a customs union between the two nations today, from which it is expected that economic growth of 15% will be produced in the short term. The agreement aims to eliminate the three land crossings on the borders of the two countries.
Now is the time to fulfill the clear mandate of the Presidents of the Central American Integration System for the establishment of a Customs Union in Central America.
From a statement issued by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (FECAMCO):
It is time for transparent information to be given on which Central American governments continue to obstruct the essential unification of border formalities.
EDITORIAL
The Council of Ministers for Economic Integration (Comieco) which met in Managua on September 4 and 5 ended, as always happens in these meetings with public officials, with a statement of good intentions including promises to "work on the standardization of procedures at border posts and a regional strategy for trade facilitation," objectives which have been stated often and which up to now are far from being realised.
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