The possibility of negotiating a free trade agreement with the trade bloc of South American countries is back on the discussion.
The issue will be discussed in detail at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Economy of the region (Comieco), to be held in El Salvador on December 5 and 6.
Acisclo Valladares Urruela, Minister of Economy of Guatemala, confirmed to Prensalibre.com that "...
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.
The rule adopted by the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration aims to eliminate border controls and forces companies to give a 15 working days notice for imports and exports.
Crhoy reports that "...Some representatives of the private sector in Central America have criticized a directive which came into effect this month, which imposes new phytosanitary measures for exports and imports, which was approved by the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration (Comieco). ". ..In contrast, Costa Rican exporters "... say they have had no problems at the moment and they are ready, in fact they recognize that it will facilitate trade."
Starting July 17th the categorization of products according to their health risk will be applied and a 15 day shipping notice will be required to import those labelled as "high risk."
A new "Directive on sanitation and phytosanitation for the facilitation of trade in goods and shipments in Central America", adopted by the Council of Ministers for Economic Integration (Comieco), approved in January and which will come into effect from Thursday, July 17, could detract agility from intraregional trade, warns the Exporters Corporation of El Salvador (Coexport).
The difficulties and obstacles highlighted by exporters in intraregional trade reveal the serious shortcomings of the much vaunted concept of Central American Integration.
Chambers representing exporters in Central American countries believe that instead of moving towards the integration of the region, the slow progress of the customs union and the high costs of transport is retracting from it.
Trade ministers from the region are promoting the regional recognition of sanitary permits by its digitization and online availability.
Trade ministers from the region analyzed uploading permissions to a web platform in order to expedite the process of trading regionally. The initiative would allow an exporter registered in Guatemala not to have to send physical documents to another Central American country in order to register.
From the border with Mexico up to Darien in Panama, customs offices are hindering trade and conspiring against the region's development.
According to the Corporation of Guatemalan Customs Agents (CAAG), delays suffered by transport carriers alone make goods 5% more expensive for Central American consumers. But added to this is 30% for sanitary and phytosanitary barriers and non-tariff measures that are applied in each country.
Nicaragua and Honduras are allowed to sell 65,000 more metric tons duty-free to the European Union.
The country has given approval for both Nicaragua and Honduras to receive this benefit temporarily, until the trade agreement becomes effective for Guatemala. "The Council of Ministers of Economy and Trade for Central America (Comieco) gave authorization this weekend for each country in the region to be able to make available its quotas at will" reported Nicaraguahoy.info.
The European Union will not mediate in the distribution between the Central American countries of the sugar quota of 60,000 tonnes allocated to the region.
"The European Union will only check the total regional quota has been reached and will not intervene in how it is distributed among the five Central American countries. The distribution and quota management is an internal matter for the Central American region," said Klara Klanska, commercial counselor of the EU to Central America.
Nicaragua and Honduras want to regionalize the EU quota, to be able to offer 53,000 tons of sugar.
Producers want the export quotas that the sugar growers in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala were not able to meet, as in those countries the Association Agreement is not yet in force, said Mario Amador Rivas, general manager of the National Committee of Sugar Producers (CNPA).
Complaints have been made stating that the new tax charged by the government of El Salvador on vehicles from other countries who cross its borders, will increase costs and hinders regional trade.
The Salvadoran decision "is detrimental to the competitiveness of the Central American region, further increasing costs related to insecurity, and this measure goes against the principal of free movement of goods in the region," said the Federation of Chambers of Agriculture and Agroindustrialists in Central America (Fecagro).
A computerized system is being prepared in order to control the volume of exports to Europe by each Central American country, within the provisions of the Partnership Agreement.
An article in Laprensagráfica.com reports that "Central America is working on the adoption of a computerized system which will keep track of the volumes of cargo that each country in the region exports to Europe under the quotas that were agreed in the Agreement Association (AA). "
Five regulations signed by the COMIECO will facilitate trade within the region and minimize the cost of economic exchange.
The Council of Ministers of Economy (Comieco) agreed to sign 5 regulations to standardize the use of packaging and labels at the regional level, in order to facilitate trade and minimize costs of economic exchange in the isthmus, reported Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias.
Businessmen from the Isthmus are urging governments to work together to achieve integration.
The Advisory Committee on Central American Economic Integration (CCIE), representing the region's private sector, recently met in Managua and decided to expedite the process to move towards economic integration in Central America.
One of the aspects which the committee wishes to emphasize is the need to prioritize Central American interests contained in the integration methods over any bilateral trade agreement with other countries.
The Federation of Central American Chambers of Commerce (FECAMCO in Spanish) demands that a new SIECA head be appointed in line with the relevant institutional guidelines.
A press release by FECAMCO states that, "the institutional foundations of Central American integration have been weakened by the failure of proper legal procedures to be followed in the appointment of the head of the Secretariat of Central American Economic Integration (SIECA)".
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