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
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.
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.
The heavy bureaucracy present in Central American governments is obstructing the transport of goods, adding to regional trade costs.
In Guatemala, for example, the inefficiency in resolving issues and easily implementing procedures is self evident, as currently there are open files against 36,000 carriers, "something that no one can update, because of how cumbersome it would be to update this documentation , but the worst thing is that many of these records were wrongly documented because they correspond to breaches by vehicles which later went out of circulation ... " noted an editorial published by Prensalibre.com.
There is a requirement to avoid duplicate collection of customs duties levied on imports in order to meet the provisions of the trade pact with the European Union.
The commissioner of Customs at the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) in Guatemala, Oscar Funes, referred to the commitments made by the region in the signing of the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union, signed on 29 June.
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.
The customs offices of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador have been interconnected using the Integrated Foreign Trade System (SICEX by its initials in Spanish) since June.
The system aids export companies in reducing time and costs, by digitalizing the process of customs authorisation.
According to an article in Elmundo.com.sv, "When we speak of a customs interconnection, what this means is that an export transaction can be automatically generated in El Salvador, registered in the national customs system, and simultaneously, registered at the offices of another Central American country" said Cornelius Deras, head of the Center for Import and Export Procedures (CIEX El Salvador).