A court ruling has overturned the SAT resolutions authorizing Empresa Portuaria Quetzal y Terminal de Contenedores Quetzal to operate as temporary customs warehouses.
Although the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) has announced that it will be appealing the ruling given by the Second Administrative Appeals Chamber, the reality is that since June 28, the activities of the customs warehouses in Empresa Portuaria Quetzal (EPQ) have been suspended as well as those at the Terminal de Contenedores Quetzal (TCQ)."...The resolution orders that the SAT no longer has the customs service under its administration, which contravenes the Central American Customs Code CAUCA, therefore the Superintendency will file an appeal against the decision made by the Court."
January 1 saw the coming into force of a new nomenclature, which extends Tariff System Codes to 10 digits.
The implementation of the Sixth Amendment to the nomenclature of the Tariff Description and Coding System (SAC by its initials in Spanish) and the extension to more digits of codes for goods that are exported and imported was approved by the World Customs Organization (WCO) on June 27, 2014 in order to maintain, in terms of tariff nomenclature, a common language which facilitates international exchange.
The current customs legislation has been unified into a single document and changes will be implemented in processes to establish deposits made to order merchandise and refunding taxes, among other things.
Approval of the decree that integrates into a single document all national regulations and the Central American Uniform Customs Code (Cauca) is one of the steps that was needed for full integration of Panama into the Central American Customs Union. It is expected that accession to the bloc will occur within six months.
State officials do not own the information they manage, and when that information has not been legally declared as reserved, they must ensure its availability to the public.
EDITORIAL
And 'availability´means that public institutions must have all the doors to obtain it wide open, both administratively and technically.
State officials often create administrative barriers to free access to public information, in the form of lengthy bureaucratic processes, including sometimes filling out forms that include insidious questions about what the information will be used for.
The new charges of tax evasion against Aceros de Guatemala demonstrates how the cumbersome procedures for receiving tax returns foster dishonesty among officials and businessmen.
The Justice Department and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala have accused the company Aceros de Guatemala of committing tax fraud and customs fraud offenses, worth more than the $33 million, and which could be linked to the of customs fraud network dismantled a few months ago known as "The Line".
The aim is to implement the operation of customs offices of both countries in the same physical space, with the control of goods and passengers being carried out simultaneously.
The agreement between the customs authorities of Panama and Costa Rica includes recommendations, designs and procedural logic for an Integrated Control Center (CCI), to be constructed on the borders of Paso Canoas and Guabito-Sixaola.
Many of the officials working in Central American governments are annoyed at the idea of the information they handle being accessible to citizens, and one way or another, they are impeding its availability.
EDITORIAL
"- Send a letter to Mrs Fulana, the person in charge of authorizing the release of information you have requested, stating the reasons for your request".
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 Costa Rica customs system is overwhelmed and needs to an overhaul which is to be funded by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.
The operating system has been congested since 2005 and is slow to process manifests and unloading documents. It also has problems with tracking or monitoring the transit of goods, said Gerardo Bolaños, director of Customs.
The Director of Customs in Costa Rica has stated that they will continue to perform the exhaustive checks which are causing delays in unloading goods.
The Costa Rican Association of Cargo Agents, Consolidators and International Logistics Companies (Acacia), has denounced the misinterpretation of customs guidelines which is causing delays in unloading goods.
At the border crossing singled out as the slowest in Central America, private sites for carriers could be used to manage customs documents.
According to Abdiel Lezcano, regional director of Customs, this is one of the measures being contemplated, after receiving complaints from hundreds of drivers of trucks transiting the border crossing.
The idea, explained Lezcano, is to minimize the waiting time limit to three hours, as it is currently higher.
The function of the AEO is to contribute to the implementation of safety guidelines of the World Customs Organization in order to have a secure supply chain.
From Wikipedia:
"The AEO certificate, issued by customs authorities in the EU and many other countries using the same or a similar name, is a trusted certificate which Customs offices give to traders who meet certain requirements which demonstrate to the customs offices their reliability regarding customs processes, solvency and safety. It is granted to operators involved in the chain of international trade, whether natural or legal persons, provided that the professional activity of these operators is subject to customs regulations, such as importers, exporters, manufacturers, representatives at customs offices, bearers, carriers , terminal operators, shippers etc.
Hardware that supports the IT system for Customs Control does not have sufficient capacity to manage the volume of information to be processed.
The Information Technology System for Customs Control (TIC @) has become "a victim of its own success."
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "The TIC @ system was born in 2005 as one of the spearheads in digitizing procedures that have spread to other branches of government affairs, even causing its main promoter Alicia Avendaño to be given the title Technical Secretariat of Digital Government. The amount of paperwork that manages has become a burden for its operation, which suffers much interruptions, to growing frustration of its users. "
There is a requirement to avoid duplicate collection of customs duties levied on imports in order to meet the provisions of the trade pact with the European Union.
The commissioner of Customs at the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) in Guatemala, Oscar Funes, referred to the commitments made by the region in the signing of the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union, signed on 29 June.
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