On the Nicaraguan side everything is ready for cargo transported to and from the port of Limon to save 160 kilometers, through the customs post of Las Tablillas, but endless red tape is preventing works from starting in Costa Rica.
The Legislature granting approval for a loan to finance the work, completion of administrative procedures, the holding of a tender to hire a project manager who must then then tender the work internationally, are all of the steps that have to be completed to just to get work started at the customs post in Las Tablillas.
From February 23rd a pilot plan will be operating, which aims to accelerate the time it takes to process carriers operating at the border.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport):
The Single Window for Exports (VUPE) and CUTRIGUA, announced that as of February 23, 2015, a pilot project will start which aims to facilitate trade at border crossings.
Despite the antiquity of the efforts for Central American integration and for the Customs Union the obstacles to trade between the countries on the isthmus presented by customs offices are notorious.
The Federation of Chambers and Associations of Exporters of Central America (Fecaxca) is once again calling for policies and common strategies for standards and customs procedures.
It is time for the organizations dedicated to integration to be held to account, and the countless meetings and bombastic statements to be brought back down to earth.
" ... trading successfully requires a lot of work, it means risking assets, paying salaries, burning the candle at both ends in order to fulfill an order, it means having to throw away products because consumers dont like them anymore or because another one came in from abroad that pushed yours aside. Every extra dollar caused by difficulties at Central American borders pushes companies towards not being able to compete, towards disappearing. "
The competitiveness of the economies of the isthmus is being impaired by the inefficiency of the bureaucracy in the management of customs offices in the region.
The bureaucracy at customs offices has become a serious problem for the Central American region. Among other things it generates increases in the costs of exporting because of the procedures that must be paid for, loss of perishable goods and delays in production in processes that have to wait for raw materials.
Instead of being reduced, bureaucracy at the Central American borders is becoming increasingly burdensome, complicating and making intra regional trade more expensive.
Constant delays which increase transportation costs, lack of progress in the streamlining of customs procedures and a perceived stagnation of the customs and economic integration project are the most pressing problems observed by business associations in Central America.