A new information platform aims to identify the main disadvantages faced by companies that transport goods through the region in customs and paperwork management.
The Central American Economic Integration Secretariat (Sieca) presented the Trade Incidences Platform, which will compile information on the disadvantages that companies have in the areas of customs, transport, sanitary procedures, phytosanitary, import or export.
In Guatemala, a new entity was created called Sociedad de Emprendimiento, whose registration cost will range between $128 and $192 and will be available as of the first quarter of 2019.
The Ministry of Economy is working to make the procedure, which will be established within the Regulation of the Law for Strengthening Entrepreneurship, available to interested parties for the first quarter of next year.
28% of the SMEs in Costa Rica stated that obtaining a municipal permit to start operations was the most complex procedure, while another 17% says that the process of registering with the department of Taxation is the most onerous.
According to theIII National Survey of MSMEs, prepared by the State University at a Distance (UNED) and the University of Costa Rica (UCR), for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) obtaining a municipal patent for operation and registering as a new taxpayer, are the two procedures that most affect the start up of their operations.
Two years after having been presented at the Guatemalan Congress, the initiative to reform the Free Zones Law is still awaiting approval.
In 2016, initiative 5174 was presented to the Congress of the Republic, and has been debated in speeches made by deputies and in meetings of the Economic Cabinet of the Executive Power, none of which have resulted in its approval.
Following the Guatemalan Constitutional Court's order of a community consultation as a requirement to resume operations at the San Rafael Mine, the company is now claiming that the timelines for the process are not clear.
Given the doubts that exist about the term that the government has to complete the process of community consultation, the mining company has decided to make another staff cut, given that it is unknown how long it will be before they can resume mining operations, which were halted on July 3, 2017.
In Panama complaints have been made that "industrial companies that import raw materials to produce food have been unjustly blocked because they do not have health permits in place, which is due to the process and the times involved in their renewal."
In response to the technical audits carried out by the Food Safety and Customs authorities, industrial companies denounced the blocking of several food importing companies.In a statement, the Trade Union of Industrialists of Panama (SIP) indicated that "... the lack of institutional coordination and limited resources of public bodies are making it impossible for us to export and be competitive. We have the AUPSA which is 'very complacent' with the import process; while with the permits and procedures for the local and international market, it is the opposite case".
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.
In Costa Rica, the law on incentives to import these types of vehicles has been in force for six months, but agencies are not able to take advantage of the exoneration because the Treasury has not yet adapted its customs computer system.
Although the "Law of Incentives and Promotion for Electric Transport" came into force six months ago, distributors are still facing obstacles to complete the importation processes under the new tax benefits scheme.
Entrepreneurs in Honduras are demanding that procedures for the issuance of environmental licenses be simplified, a process which can take up to two years.
According to the affected sector, one of the causes of delays in the delivery of environmental licenses, which are needed for some projects to start, is the lack of technicians at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MiAmbiente).
According to entrepreneurs dedicated to the distribution of electricity in El Salvador, the rigid legal regulations prevent progress being made on issues such as the development of distribution networks and improvements to the quality of service.
Representatives from the Association of Distributors of Salvadoran Electric Power (Asdees), believe that due to the gap between technological advances and the backlog of the regulatory framework for the sector, the country is losing competitiveness.
In Guatemala, the builders' union and the government signed an agreement to work on simplifying and reducing procedures required to obtain a construction license.
The Guatemalan Chamber of Construction (CGC) and the Ministry of Economy (Mineco), have signed an agreement for institutions working in the process of issuing licenses, to work together in order to reduce the existing bureaucracy.
In order to resolve the problem of delays in approving environmental impact permits, in Costa Rica industrial sector employers support a proposal for the National Technical Secretariat to intervene.
Arguing that "it affects them negatively", the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (ICRC), supports the intervention of the National Technical Secretariat (Setena) requested last Wednesday by the Christian Social Unity Party (PUSC).
Due to the excess of procedures that developers have to carry out in order to realise a construction project in Costa Rica, it is estimated that some 5 thousand homes fail to be built every year.
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction presented a study entitled "Economic contribution of the construction sector and the impact of the excess of procedures", and one of its main conclusions was that the bureaucratic processes in the country "... can generate average delays of 7.4 months in private construction projects and 13.5 months in social interest housing."
In Panama, it is being claimed that gold mining activity at the Cerro Quema mine will set back 18 months, due to a delay in approving the environmental study and the extension of a concession on the part of the government.
General managers of the company Minera Cerro Quema, in charge of the concession for the mine, stated that the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) was presented three years ago, and they have still not received approval from the authorities.
Through an agreement with the business sector, the government of Honduras has announced that it intends to simplify procedures for licenses and registration of companies.
As part of a plan to facilitate private investment, the Hernandez administration has announced that they will also be talking with mayors so that local governments facilitate the operation of companies nationwide. In addition they"... announced that from April they will start using customs' forward looking statement."
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