Arguing that there is unfair treatment in the other countries of the region, Costa Rican drivers of cargo vehicles block the transit through the border posts of Penas Blancas and Paso Canoas.
Local authorities decided to extend from 3 to 10 days the maximum period that drivers of international cargo transport are allowed to stay in Salvadoran territory to unload or load merchandise.
Due to the spread of covid-19 Costa Rica was the first country to impose restrictions on cargo transport units from other countries in the region. Faced with this decision taken unilaterally, the governments applied reciprocal measures.
Currently, transporting goods by sea between Central American countries can increase freight costs by at least 60% compared to the land option, which represents an obstacle to changing the way goods are transferred in the region.
As a result of the closure of the Penas Blancas customs crossing, on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, some businessmen in the region had to resort to the sea route in order to deliver their orders.
The Panamanian government announced that it had reached an agreement with the Costa Rican authorities that Panamanian heavy transport units would be given a 72-hour period to load and unload goods in tax offices.
Since El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama have set a 72-hour time limit for freight drivers operating in the region, hundreds of units have decided to halt their operations as a measure of pressure.
Due to the health crisis resulting from the covid-19 outbreak, Salvadoran, Costa Rican and Panamanian authorities decided that the drivers of the cargo transport units entering the country will have only 72 hours to make the formalities at the borders, and to unload and reload the goods from the vehicles.
Local authorities announced that as of March 7, cargo vehicles traveling through the country from Costa Rica will no longer pay $50 at Nicaraguan customs.
Costa Rica recurred to the Central American Trade Dispute Resolution mechanism, for the collection of $50 by Nicaraguan customs authorities to Costa Rican cargo carriers entering the country.
The disagreement began after the Nicaraguan authorities on March 15 of this year began to collect a customs tax on the cargo transport in transit or with final destination in the country, which consists of the payment of $50 for each transport unit of goods that passes through land customs.
After Nicaraguan authorities imposed in their customs a $50 payment to each cargo vehicle transiting through their territory, Costa Rica requested a meeting to review the issue.
On March 15 of this year, Nicaraguan authorities began to collect a customs tax on the transportation of cargo in transit or with final destination in the country, which consists of the payment of $50 for each transport unit of goods that passes through land customs.
In addition to the usual problems of crime facing cargo carriers in the Northern Triangle, the union has denounced an increase in robberies on Costa Rican roads.
Inequality and lack of coordination in security measures that are implemented in each of the Central American countries is preventing better results from being achieved in combating robbery of freight trucks.
The mania for regulatory bureaucracy which feeds its own existence is taking away flexibility in the use of resources in the economy, slowing development.
EDITORIAL
It will be impossible for Central Americans to make progress if every new business activity has to be authorized by a public official.In the region the practice is not that you can do anything that is not forbidden, but rather the general culture indicates that you can only do what the State authorizes you to do.
The Government and the union agreed to meet in the coming days to resolve complaints made by the industry, which resulted in two days of strikes and business losses of at least $10 million.
The blockade by truckers on the border between Costa Rica and Panama, organized by the National Chamber of Cargo Transportation (Canacarga) and the Truckers Union of Chiriqui (Sicachi), was suspended on the night of February 16, after a party from the Government of Panama went from the capital to the province of Chiriqui.
The union has exhausted dialogue with the regional government of Chiriqui and is a blockading the border preventing the movement of freight carriers in Central America.
The provincial government in Chiriqui has failed to prevent Panamanian carriers, organized by the National Chamber of Cargo Transportation in Panama, (Canatraca) from indefinitely blocking the passage of trucks across the border in Paso Canoas (information at time of going to press at 3:30 p.m).
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.
Transport ministers have approved a document setting out traffic controls and a regional agreement on driving on roads with weights and dimensions for commercial vehicles.
The Minister of Public Works in El Salvador, Gerson Martinez, said "... it is a single manual for the entire region, including signs, symbols, (road) markings, because if each country has different signs, then it generates
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