Despite innumerable meetings of leaders and officials who frequently express their willingness to act on the issue, customs transit continues to be the main factor affecting logistics costs for regional trade.
At the first congress of freight transport in El Salvador once again the problem that continues to prevent the region achieving greater commercial development, was brought to the light.
The crisis in the tax administration department has created delays of up to 15 days in release of containers and serious lack of coordination in the management of processes at land borders and ports.
The business sector states that the lack of coordination is so bad that there are lines up to 4 km long at land border posts, where the main problems are "...
The border crossing Las Tablillas de Los Chiles, Costa Rica, and San Pancho San Carlos, Nicaragua, started operating on May 2.
At the time of going to press time normal operations were reported on the Nicaraguan side, which on Saturday May 2 had not allowed vehicular traffic.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica:
On May 2, as planned, the Costa Rican authorities in charge of border controls started operations at the Los Tablillas border post. From 8:00 am the first lines appeared of people willing to make use of the new border crossing. Minutes later, the Police Force instructed the opening of the barrier which marks the junction of highways in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in order to enable the crossing.
The dismantling of the network of corruption at the highest level of the taxation system shows the validity and the necessity that Central America has for having bodies such as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala.
EDITORIAL
Guatemalan business leaders have been talking about the matter, after the release of the CICIG updates which shed light on a group of criminals who, from the highest level of customs administration, engineered smuggling and tax fraud in the country. See: "Customs Fraud Network in Guatemala".
"If the calculations made for Guatemala in 2013 and 2014 are taken as a reference for other Central American countries, the volume of illegal trade in the region, could be between 3.4% and 4% of GDP".
"If the calculations made for Guatemala in 2013 and 2014 are taken as a reference for other Central American countries, the volume of illegal trade in the region, could be between 3.4% and 4% of GDP".
"It is we ourselves who are still looking ourselves as independent countries, when in fact we must work even harder on this unification."
In his article published in the magazine industry, the executive director of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala Javier Zepeda, describes the situation which as yet has not be able to be changed: the plan for regional integration only exists on paper.
From April 1st 2015 the only documents needed to send products to the Indian market will be the air declaration, the commercial invoice and bill of entry.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer):
India has decided to simplify procedures for imports, which will reduce costs and time and aims to improve the country's position in the ease of doing business list produced by the World Bank.
Starting April chambers of commerce in the region will be providing free training on phytosanitary controls, management at border posts and customs procedures for exporting firms.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica:
As of April, the Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica will be running a training program on trade facilitation for the public and private sector, within the framework of a cooperation agreement signed between the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (FECAMCO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement the USAID Regional Project on Trade and Market Partnerships.
Shipping companies accept payment for inspection of containers but are asking for the removal of the charge for the "traceability tax disc" on the part of port companies.
Industry representatives argue that charging twice for stamps used for international transit through the container ports Quetzal and Santo Tomas de Castilla, breaches the agreement reached between business and the government in October 2014, when "...Tariff schedules were agreed by Empresa Portuaria Quetzal. "
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.
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.
Exporters claim that the lack of staff at border posts at certain times of the day is slowing the processes for customs clearance, security and sanitation issues.
Lack of staff and lack of coordination in the timetables for services provided to carriers are the main causes of the constant delays faced by companies that transport goods from Costa Rica to Central America.
Central America must improve the quality standards of its products, learn more about the consumers and simplify processes in order to take advantage of the opportunities of the Agreement with the European Union.
In order to maximize the opportunities provided by the Association Agreement which has been signed with the European Union (EU), Central American companies must have a better understanding of the European market, which has more than 500 million consumers who are demanding in terms of quality and food safety. Furthermore, it is essential to simplify export procedures in order to expedite the process of obtaining permits and other procedures which are reducing export competitiveness in Central America.
The Chamber of Commerce and the General Department of Customs have signed an agreement for exchange of information and monitoring of imports in order to control the illegal transit of goods.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica:
Monday October 27, 2014. The Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica (CCCR) and the General Department of Customs (DGA) on Monday signed an Agreement for Cooperation Trade Transparency in order to combat all unfair practices in trade, such as smuggling, counterfeiting and other illegal practices.
The Council of Ministers of Economic Integration of Central America has until November to ratify the tax refund mechanisms governing the import of European goods.
The entire Central American region must have the same system of tax refunds on Import Customs Duties (DAI) from August 1, 2015, as established by the Association Agreement (AA) between Central America and the European Union (EU).