Arguing that the number of infections and deaths is increasing quickly because of the spread of covid-19, President Bukele decided to postpone the entry into force of the second phase until July 21.
Initially, the second phase of the economic reopening process was scheduled to begin on July 7, and would include the reactivation of the plastic, paper, cardboard and footwear industries, as well as call centers, restaurants and mass transportation.
Businessmen and authorities agreed that from June 16 will begin the reactivation of productive activities, and it is estimated that within 100 days the economy will be functioning at 100%.
After almost three months of restrictions to the mobility of people and the suspension of productive activities, derived from the outbreak of covid-19 in the country, agreements were reached at the Economic Reactivation Table.
With the entry into force of the trade agreement between the two countries, the Salvadoran export sector intends to study the South Korean market to take advantage of the opportunities that have opened up.
Negotiations have started to incorporate El Salvador into the Customs Union that is already functioning, albeit partially and with some setbacks, between Guatemala and Honduras.
Internal taxes, customs procedures, migration, tariffs and sanitary and phytosanitary permits are some of the issues to be addressed in the first round of negotiations between the Salvadoran government and its Guatemalan and Honduran counterparts.
The trade union of Salvadoran exporters has already started the process to participate in the negotiation rounds to join the Customs Union between Guatemala and Honduras.
The private sector will be part of the negotiation process that has just begun to incorporate El Salvador and Nicaragua into the Customs Union which is already in force between Guatemala and Honduras.
The debt that the state has owed to export companies for four years, from unrefunded VAT, has now reached $50 million.
Silvia Cuéllar, executive director of Coexport, told Elmundo.sv that"... every year, the Ministry of Finance should have reimbursed exporters about $200 million, and the amount now overdue is $50 million."
The Salvadoran government has ruled out making another tender to grant the operation of the terminal and is preparing a bill so that it can be granted under the form of a lease.
The mistakes made when trying to put out to tender, repeatedly, the operation of Puerto La Union will not be repeated again, as now a proposal has been made to change the format under which the terminal operates from a concession to a lease arrangement The Salvadoran government insists on finding a way for La Union to be operational, even thoughthere is not enough maritime traffic to be served by this terminal and the one in Acajutla.
Elmundo.sv reports that "...The Technical and Planning secretary of the Presidency, Roberto Lorenzana said that the Executive Branch will promote to the Legislature the Port Services Act which allows for operation of this terminal to be granted under a lease format.The official recalled that investors who initially showed interest in the project were not attracted to the idea of a concession of this port governed by the Law on Concessions, which establishes certain conditions and the payment of an initial fee and a defined cargo quota in a port with a minimum cargo handling and which is located in an 'inappropriate' place. "
In this regard, the executive director of Coexport, Silvia Cuellar,"... said although offering facilities will probably help attract investors, they are concerned that the discussion of what to do with the port is advancing slowly, while other terminals such as Puerto Cortes in Honduras and Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla in Guatemala are undertaking improvement projects to attract more cargo to their facilities. "
The country may not be prepared to meet the weight certification requirement for containers which will come into effect on July 1.
An article on Elsalvador.com reports that "... the Corporation of Exporters of El Salvador (Coexport) expressed concern in the sector over the approval of amendments to SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), which includes new regulations requiring exporters to submit their containers to a weight verification process, and certification of the ship when full, or the total weight of all packages of the cargo container. "
In El Salvador the export sector claims that delays of up to nine months are being reported on tax refunds due from the Treasury, which should take no more than 30 days.
Seven months ago the Exporters Corporation of El Salvador (Coexport) submitted to the Ministry of Finance a proposal for self-assessment of Value Added Tax (VAT) with the aim of reducing the time it takes to receive tax refunds.
Drought was the main factor behind the drop of 49% in exports for 2014 of rice, beans and corn, compared to the previous year.
At the end of 2014 $6.5 billion in exports of grains were reported, ie, $6.4 million less than the $12.9 million recorded in 2013. Drought damaged about "... 2.6 million hundredweight of white corn and 86.107 hundredweight of red beans in the 2014 harvest."
Carriers claim that the new rules on the $18 fee for revision using scanners is not clear when it comes to charging the fee on consolidated cargo.
This new conflict has arisen from the fact that the rules of the law do not specify whether in the case of consolidated cargo the $18 must be paid per package or if the fee should be divided among all packages, as they claim has been done up until now.
While the textile sector accounts for over 90% of total exports to the USA under the FTA, lack of training and compliance with requirements is preventing other sectors from taking better advantage of the trade agreement.
Lack of training, compliance requirements and inability to make the necessary investment to produce on a large-scale are some of the challenges faced by the sectors who are failing to take advantage of the trade agreement with the United States faces.
Starting July 17th the categorization of products according to their health risk will be applied and a 15 day shipping notice will be required to import those labelled as "high risk."
A new "Directive on sanitation and phytosanitation for the facilitation of trade in goods and shipments in Central America", adopted by the Council of Ministers for Economic Integration (Comieco), approved in January and which will come into effect from Thursday, July 17, could detract agility from intraregional trade, warns the Exporters Corporation of El Salvador (Coexport).
Exporters have reported inconsistencies in the system of non-intrusive inspections at customs offices in El Salvador.
Exporters are complaining they have paid the $18 fee more than once for scanned inspections of the same container. This is because "in some cases they are charging per product declaration issued not per the number of containers, in other words, if a container has more than one product then you must pay the fee for each one ...".
Salvadoran exporters and importers will continue to pay the $18 fee per load and only goods passing through will be exempt from the fee.
The authentic interpretation of the decree eliminating a charge of $18 for the non-intrusive inspection services at Salvadoran Customs offices was vetoed by President Mauricio Funes. Salvadoran exporters and importers will continue to pay the $18 fee per load and only goods passing through will be exempt from the fee.
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