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
Finally, the Legislative Assembly has approved the IDB loan to improve infrastructure at the border posts of Peñas Blancas, Paso Canoas, Las Tablillas and Sixaola.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade:
IDB approves $100 million loan to improve border infrastructure.
Project will benefit border posts in Peñas Blancas, Paso Canoas, Las Tablillas and Sixaola.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A requirement has been eliminated which previously obliged companies exporting goods to submit records which indicated the customs procedure under which the company operates.
From a bulletin by the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica:
The Ministry of Foreign Trade announced that it has been agreed with the authorities of El Salvador that in bilateral trade the requirement to submit records which indicate the customs procedure under which the exporter of the goods operates has been eliminated. The elimination of the requirement will be effective for both parties from February 16 this year.
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.
Both governments announced that they have signed an agreement to unify customs in order to expedite the transport of vehicles and people, with effect from 1 June.
With this agreement, it is expected that the border between the two nations will be fully liberated for both freight and passengers in December. Immigration procedures will be carried out online or in an office to be located near the border area.
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):
The Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (FECAMCO) held in San José, the transfer of chairmanship of this regional entity to the Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica for the period 2015.
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.
In order to expedite intraregional trade it is necessary for customs offices dealing with cargo freight, to be open all hours, just as immigration customs offices are.
A study commissioned by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (Fecamco) concluded that there are 87 barriers to trade in the region, one of the major ones being operations of the systems at customs offices at borders, followed by bureaucratic requirements and lack of adequate infrastructure.
Governments in the region should accelerate and make concrete a real customs union that decisively contributes to economic development by facilitating trade in goods and services as well as flows of capital.
While Central American government officials in regional authorities speak of integration, in reality central governments are doing little or nothing to achieve it, when not they are not in the process of obstructing it.