After the first case of covid-19 was reported in the country, the private sector is asking authorities to close the borders partially or completely and to have people entering the nation examined and quarantined if necessary.
Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), explained that among the measures taken by the companies for this emergency is the creation of a critical department so that the companies that the staff is working in three different places in case any of them is affected, have guns to measure the temperature of customers who come to the company and not allow them to enter with fever.
Salvadoran businessmen assure that for now the sector has not been impacted by the propagation of covid-19, since for the next few weeks they are preparing shipments for 70 thousand tons of sugar.
In a turbulent context, caused by the global spread of covid-19, Salvadoran sugar producers are in the middle of the harvest period and are preparing significant shipments of their product, they remain on alert.
Faced with the advance of the coronavirus epidemic, businessmen in the region are asking citizens to follow only official recommendations to avoid giving way to disorienting versions that only contribute to generate instability and uncertainty.
In Central America, two countries have registered people infected with the virus. Costa Rica was the first to report cases of COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus) and so far the nation has registered nine infected people. Panama made its first case official on 9 March.
Following the spread of the virus globally and the suspension of some production in China, several garment companies in the region have reported increases in their orders.
The spread of the epidemic has stopped much of the economic activity of the Asian giant, which is the largest exporter of textiles in the world. This situation has forced buyers to look for alternatives.
Business people in Central America agree that because of the virus that has been spreading from China, global supply chains have been disrupted and commodity prices have fallen.
An analysis by the Guatemalan exporters' union states that among the risks identified as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus (a highly contagious disease that emerged in the city of Wuhan, in central China), is the possible irruption to the supply chains of Guatemalan industries, by identifying that China has become one of the 3 main countries of origin of Guatemalan imports.
In order to combat the effect of the borer on plantations producers have requested the government to lift the ban on the import of this chemical product.
Arguing that the impact of the coffee berry borer in coffee plantations has "... increased from levels of less than 2% to 10%", the private sector has suggested to the National Commission for Transformation and Development of Coffee Growing the possibility that regulations prohibiting the import of endosulfan be revised so that imports can be made which are small and exclusively for use in coffee producers.
A proposal has been made in to parliament for a new law creating a central body to control, eradicate and manage pests and diseases in plants and animals in the country.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The Indian Agriculture Minister, Sarad Pawar, sent a new law to the parliament of his country, which will create a central agency, the Agricultural Biosecurity Authority of India (ABAI), in order to predict, control, eradicate and manage pests and diseases in plants and animals.