This week in Guatemala, Central American countries held a joint meeting of National Trade Facilitation Committees, which involved bringing together all relevant stakeholders at the same table and undertaking joint cooperation on the issue for the first time.
This First Regional Workshop of Trade Facilitation Committees in Central America was organized, from August 24-26, by the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) and funded by the European Union (EU).
In this regard, it should be noted that the Central American countries that are members of the WTO ratified the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (AFC), which contains provisions to expedite the clearance of goods and establishes, for this purpose, measures of cooperation between customs and other relevant bodies in these matters (Article 23.2).
In that sense, the Secretary General of SIECA, Francisco Lima Mena, He stated at the closing ceremony that the technical body “continues to support Central American countries to continue with a clear path in terms of trade facilitation that allows for the reduction of costs and times to make Central America a more competitive region.”
SIECA indicated that the National Border Committees met to exchange experiences in trade facilitation, evaluate the work carried out, verify the progress made in implementing the measures of the trade facilitation agreement and analyze adjustments that must be made regarding the implementation of said measures.
Accordingly, Werner Ovalle, Superintendent of Customs of Guatemala and President Pro Tempore of the Central American Customs Committee, referred to the prominent role of Customs as a catalyst for efforts to improve the competitiveness of countries and the business community in the region. He recalled the seven years since the signing of the Central American Trade Facilitation Strategy and the five years since the Trade Facilitation Agreement came into force.
In this context, he encouraged the authorities to “keep alive these spaces for evaluation and feedback to advance at the Central American level.” Consequently, he highlighted the concept of close cooperation between agencies. “The ministries of economy establish the broad strategic guidelines, but customs implement them,” he said.
Official sources explained that the meeting enabled the creation of mechanisms to strengthen the capacities and scope of the work of the national and regional facilitation committees, as well as to have a regional work plan that considers the national activities of these committees and that converges with the work at the regional level and with the best practices carried out in this area.
This coordinated effort from Central America For competitiveness and trade facilitation, the application of other strategic tools is added, in the words of Werner Ovalle, namely: Regional Dispatch Time Study, Mutual Recognition Agreement of OAS Programs, project to implement the Central American Digital Trade Platform (PDCC); also, the upcoming accession of countries such as Costa Rica to the Revised Kyoto Convention referring to the simplification and harmonization of customs procedures, among others.
In addition to the presence of regional authorities such as Werner Ovalle (Customs Superintendent of Guatemala and Pro Tempore President of the Central American Customs Committee) and Francisco A. Lima Mena (Secretary General of the SIECA), the closing of the meeting was attended by national authorities: Janio Rosales (Minister of Economy of Guatemala and Pro Tempore President of the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration -COMIECO-), María Luisa Hayem Brevé (Minister of Economy of El Salvador), Paula Bogantes (Vice Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica), Erwin Ramírez Colindres (Vice Minister of Development, Industry and Commerce of Nicaragua), Juan Carlos Sosa (Vice Minister of Foreign Trade of Panama).
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