It has been announced that the service for processing foreign trade procedures between the customs posts Pedro de Alvarado and La Hachadura is to operate 24 hours a day.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala:
The export processing service between the customs posts Pedro de Alvarado and La Hachadura will operate continuously 24 hours a day as a result of pilot plan agreed between the authorities in Guatemala and El Salvador which aims to guarantee customs operations.
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.
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Starting from March 10 a mechanism will be in effect that will allow importers and exporters to make corrections to certificates of origin under the trade agreement with Mexico.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Industry in Guatemala:
We wish to publicise that the mechanism adopted within the framework of the meeting of the Administrative Commission of the Free Trade Agreement -FTA- between Guatemala and Mexico, which took place in January, approval was givenfor importers and exporters to make corrections to their certificates of origin, for which there will be 15 days in each case.
Approval has been given to the list of products exempted for free movement and the format of the invoice and Central American single declaration.
From a statement issued by Sieca:
Central America, January 27, 2017.In the fifteenth round of negotiations held in Tegucigalpa between January 23 and 27 2017, Guatemala and Honduras adopted measures to accelerate the implementation of a Customs Union between the two countries.
January 1 saw the coming into force of a new nomenclature, which extends Tariff System Codes to 10 digits.
The implementation of the Sixth Amendment to the nomenclature of the Tariff Description and Coding System (SAC by its initials in Spanish) and the extension to more digits of codes for goods that are exported and imported was approved by the World Customs Organization (WCO) on June 27, 2014 in order to maintain, in terms of tariff nomenclature, a common language which facilitates international exchange.
As part of the implementation of the Customs Union, Corinto was designated as a new integrated custom office, and operations will begin in the first quarter of 2017.
The resolution signed yesterday by officials of the two nations to enable the passage through Corinth in Entre Ríos, Izabal, heralds the start of a new route with greater opportunities for bilateral trade.
The union of exporters has reported losses of $145 million, and more than 12,000 shipping containers held up because of the blockades which have now been going on for more than a week.
Reports indicate that two shipping companies have suspended operations at the ports and announced they will not disembark because of "inability to ensure the safety of their staff."This is just one example of the serious damage caused to in the country by the blockades and demonstrations held by truckers for almost a week at customs offices and ports in Guatemala.
Although it was initially scheduled for December this year, the start date for operations will not now be before mid-2017.
Representatives from the Central American Economic Integration System (SIECA) explained to Diario de Centroamerica that "... at the moment the computer aspect is being developed and they are making adjustments to border posts, which Guatemala and Honduras agreed will remain in the latter country because it has some better facilities, so that they can bear the whole load. "
The private sector is demanding that the government investigate the possible existence of criminal structures which may be operating in an organized manner behind the strike at some ports and customs offices.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Agriculture in Guatemala:
Guatemala, November 2, 2016.Given the situation under which for a sixth consecutive day import and export of products have been halted in Puerto Quetzal, Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla and on the border of Tecun Uman,
The customs post of Tecun Uman II has been blocked by a strike on the part of Guatemalan cargo carriers.
The union of industrialists in Guatemala reports that blockades by carriers are already affecting passage through the customs office of Tecun Uman II.
Rony Mendoza, secretary general of the Heavy Transport Workers Union of Guatemala, told Diario de Centroamerica that"... vehicles transporting goods from ports and customs offices are not circulating on Thursday and that the strike will last for at least three days."
On January 1, 2017 the new nomenclature comes into force, which extends codes used in the Tariff System to 10 digits.
From a statement issued by the Salvadoran Association of Industrialists (ASI):
The Salvadoran Association of Industrialists (ASI) held on this day a conference with the aim of informing its members about the implementation of the Sixth Amendment to the nomenclature in the System for Tariff Description and Coding (SAC) and the enlargement to ten digits of the codes for goods that are exported and imported.
The passage of freight transport is being blocked by demonstrations held by Guatemalan teachers which have forced the closure of the customs offices of Pedro de Alvarado, San Cristobal and La Ermita.
The private sector grouped under the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (Cacif) has called for an end to the blockades that are already affecting Puerto Quetzal and the route to the border at Pedro de Alvarado, in Jutiapa, towards El Salvador.
In the customs offices of Tecun Uman working hours have been extended both on the Guatemalan and Mexican side in order to allow passage of trucks which until now had been left stranded.
The Superintendent of Tax Administration is also operating an extraordinary timetable, a measure which could be extended for a few days, depending on what is decided at the end of the weekend.