Arguing to defend "the interests of the workers", labor union groups in Guatemala filed an appeal against the recently approved agreement regulating part-time employment in the country, and in response, the Constitutional Court decided to temporarily suspend it.
After several years of discussion, on June 27, 2019 Governmental Agreement 89-2019 was published in the Official Newspaper.
The Guatemalan union of recycling companies estimates that the recycling industry could stop generating about $240 million per year if the agreement prohibiting the use and distribution of single-use plastic goods enters into force.
Following the publication of the agreement prohibiting the use and distribution of single-use plastic articles, some companies are beginning to analyze possible options for no longer relying on this type of product.
In Guatemala, an agreement was published prohibiting the use and distribution of disposable plastic bags in their different presentations, shapes and designs, as well as containers made of expanded polystyrene, known as duroport, a measure that will enter into force in two years.
On Sep. 20, Governmental Agreement Number 189-2019, of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, was published in the Diario de Centroamérica, prohibiting the use of several articles made of plastic and expanded polystyrene.
The lack of a competition law in Guatemala could expose the country to sanctions from the European authorities, since it is a requirement demanded in the regulations of the Association Agreement with the European Union.
Since the end of 2016, the Association Agreement (AdA) required Guatemala to have a law on the matter, since in 2019 a Central American competition authority would have to be created.
Implementing a mixed system of interest rates composed of a fixed one with a contract for a determined time and another variable agreed between the account holder and the issuer, is one of the proposals that are discussed in the Congress of Guatemala.
The proposal for two interest rates was presented by the Instituto de Investigación y Proyección sobre Economía y Sociedad Plural (Idies), before the Congressional Economic Commission, in charge of discussing the proposals for changes to Credit Card Law 5544.
Changes in legislation restricting the use of disposable plastic containers and packaging force companies to look for other options, some of which could be up to five times more expensive.
In Costa Rica, the Legislative Assembly ratified the ban on the import, marketing and distribution of expanded polystyrene containers, better known as styrofoam.
With the approval in Second Debate of file 19.833 "Addition of an article 42 bis, a paragraph d) to article 50 and the transitory XIII, XIV and XV to the Law for the Integral Management of Waste, No.
A bill will be presented to the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to require public accountants, auditors, lawyers and notaries to report their transactions.
The bill seeking to broaden the scope of regulated persons’ subject to money laundering control, which will be presented by the Superintendence of Banks (SIB), is aimed primarily at professionals as individuals, but will also include real estate companies, vehicle agencies and casinos.
The bill being discussed in Costa Rica basically seeks to extinguish the assets of organized crime, but there are those who claim that as proposed, it puts at risk the presumption of innocence of individuals.
The extinction of domain is a concept that in practice refers to seizing or confiscating assets linked to criminal activities, and then transferring them in favor of the State.
In Guatemala, companies report to have lost several credit opportunities because the bill presented to Congress in 2015 has not yet been approved.
The bill that is being analyzed in Congress and is in third reading since May 2016, establishes the legal framework for entities such as banks and financial companies to include leasing in their product portfolios.
The reforms to the State Contracting Law under discussion in Guatemala establish five criteria for the Government to terminate the contract with a company in advance.
The proposal is currently under discussion in the Public Finance and Currency Commission of the Congress of the Republic, and among its main objectives is to solve the problems arising from litigation between contractors and state entities, because of issues related to unfinished works.
The regulation for Special Public Economic Development Zones, which came into effect in Guatemala on February 4, establishes fiscal incentives for companies operating under this scheme.
Among the tax benefits provided by the Law on Special Public Economic Development Zones (ZDEEP), include the exemption for 10 years of 100% of income tax, as well as the temporary suspension of taxes associated with imports.
On January 29, the Law to Strengthen Entrepreneurship came into force, which includes creating training centers and facilitating access to credit for small businessmen.
Guatemalan authorities reported that with the entry into force of the Law, will incorporate entrepreneurship in primary and secondary education, in addition to creating a new figure called Entrepreneurship Society, among other actions.
In Guatemala, a new entity was created called Sociedad de Emprendimiento, whose registration cost will range between $128 and $192 and will be available as of the first quarter of 2019.
The Ministry of Economy is working to make the procedure, which will be established within the Regulation of the Law for Strengthening Entrepreneurship, available to interested parties for the first quarter of next year.