Procomer, an entity that leads since 2016 the project of the Unique Investment Window in Costa Rica, says that 12 procedures related to the opening of companies and entry into the free zone regime, are already in the testing phase.
The aim of the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer) is to integrate in a single digital process, the more than 68 procedures that currently must be carried out in different ministries and municipalities to open and operate a business in Costa Rica.
The Alvarado administration announced a new platform that will serve to digitalize the process of procedures under form D2, which are used to manage studies of low environmental impact.
The platform will initially simplify the registration and tracking of D2 forms, which represents 54% of all cases.
In only 30 of the 81 municipalities that grant construction permits in Costa Rica, all of the necessary procedures to obtain a permit can be performed through the official web platform.
The Federated Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) stated that in the analysis carried out during the first semester of the year, which included all of the municipalities in the country, what stands out is that of all the communes, construction permits are digital and physical in 40, 100% digital in 30 and in 11 there are only physical.
With the implementation of the commercial license process, the time it takes to formally set up a company in the cantons of Abangares, Cañas, Tilarán, Bagaces, Liberia and La Cruz has been reduced from 40 to 7 days.
The Ministry of Economy explained in a statement that in addition to a reduction in the time that takes to formalize a company, an improvement has also been made in the time it takes to undertake the process to obtain construction permits.
The procedures for obtaining operating permits and municipal licenses are the things that cause the most difficulty for companies who are trying to formalize their operations in the country.
Despite constant complaints by entrepreneurs, excessive bureaucracy remains one of the main obstacles to the formalization of companies in Costa Rica. According to a business survey developed by Uccaep, the procedures for obtaining operation permits from the Ministry of Health and municipal patents are the most difficult tasks to carry out and those which take the most time.
A bill has been presented that aims to create a single digital window for obtaining operating licenses, social security numbers and taxpayer codes in one day.
From a statement issued by deputy Otto Guevara Guth:
Members of the Libertarian Movement caucus have presented Draft Law No.
Facilities have been enabled to approve cadastral plans digitally without requiring the physical presence of surveyors and property owners at the offices of the National Registry.
The new initiative known as Approval of Topographic Plans (ATP) has made the process of approving cadastral plans in Costa Rica digital, as from now on the physical presence of surveyors and property owners on the premises of association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) or the Land Registry will no longer be required reported that union.
The mandatory use of the Exonet system has been established for carrying out procedures related to tax exemptions.
Decree No. 39037-H Ministry of Finance:
"Article 9. Mandatory use of EXONET System. One month after the publication of this decree, the EXONET system will be compulsory for all beneficiaries applying for tax exemptions to the laws mentioned in this article, as well as their legal representatives and to all those classified as system users and who are involved in the management and processing of applications for exemption.
While there is a clear need for a long term, consistent and sustained policy in Costa Rica, corporate and business interests are staging a war which is impeding the development of the Digital Government.
Editorial
An article on Crhoy.com highlights the main concepts dealt with in a recent eLAC forum (Building inclusive and innovative digital societies in Latin America and the Caribbean), and reviews the current status of Costa Rica's digital agenda, which currently has as its central theme a long conflict between state agencies over which Government procurement system should prevail, and which of these departments should rule on the issue.
The Costa Rican Chamber of the Food Industry has affirmed that problems and delays in the registration process have temporarily been resolved.
Representatives from the food industry (Cacia) point out that since the Ministry of Health implemented a temporary measure which allows records to be filed via an affidavit, the formalities are being completed in a week.
The platform to digitize and centralize export formalities will not be completely ready before the end of the year.
Since its launch in February 2014, only half of the Foreign Trade Single Counter platform has been running and it only allows processess to be carried out digitally in 5 out of the 44 technical documents for export products.
The documents which can be processed for now correspond to "....
Importers are complaining that the "Regístrelo" (RegisterIt) digital system is malfunctioning, and that it is not possible to carry out the steps manually, generating delays of up to five months in these processes.
Although the official announcement of the implementation of the new platform emphasized that one of the benefits was the reduction of timeframes, the import sector is criticizing delays of up to five months in processing health records granted by the Ministry of Health. Added to this is the fact that the system was made obligatory, there was not a period for improvements and now there are no other official instruments to use to register products.
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