The Central American Economic Integration System (IF IT) through several attached agencies held urgent meetings on Thursday (07.05.2020) in order to facilitate the flow of freight transport operations, according to the agency's statement.
The meeting convened by Honduras, the current Pro Tempore Presidency of SICA, responds to the interest of countries and regional bodies in ensuring the flow of regional trade and the activities of freight forwarders, as well as taking the necessary sanitary measures at border posts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in national territories.
The flow of import and export transport operations of goods must ensure the supply of products for the population in the midst of the pandemic, the participants in the virtual meeting agreed.
The Council of Ministers of Health (COMISCA), Economic Integration (COMIECO), the Central American Commission of Migration Directors (OCAM) and Customs of the SICA member countries participated in the meeting.
María Antonia Rivera, representing the Government of Honduras, urged the competent authorities in the areas of migration, customs and health to adopt a joint solution regarding the stay of cargo transports. “We must look for a balance between health, immigration and customs regulations", pointed out
The Secretary General of SICA, Vinicio Cerezo, expressed that "the countries They are doing everything possible to contain COVID-19, while ensuring the transit of goods, so maintain supply of the countries, as instructed by the Presidents in the Declaration of “Central America United against Coronavirus” and the SICA Regional Contingency Plan.
Thus, within the framework of the meetings, The countries agreed on a protocol in response to the demands of carriers who have requested extend the deadlines of stay in the countries for the unloading of goods; the coordination of efforts to facilitate the passage; and they have reiterated their willingness to join in compliance with health measures at border posts and on the way to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
The protocol will be temporary due to the pandemic and is in accordance with the health and biosecurity measures issued by the Ministries of Health in the region. Which will be applied by each country according to its national legislation.
The agreement benefits freight carriers which are a fundamental part of the export and import economy of products, since they are Those who guarantee supply in the food chain. This is why countries have expressed concern for the health of these animals, and therefore recommend that transporters be willing to comply with prevention and containment measures.
Regional Contingency Plan from SICA
On March 26, the Central American countries launched the Regional Contingency Plan against Coronavirus, instructed by the Heads of State and Government of SICA at the virtual meeting on March 12, whose Axis 2 is focused on ensuring the strengthening of Trade and Finance.
What is sought is cross-sectoral regional solutions, with all those involved, in response to the needs of the population, in accordance with the agreements and commitments to the regional integration process, through the establishment of a joint roadmap.
"At the COMIECO meeting, the stay times for transporters were analyzed. The initiative was taken due to the measures taken by the countries of the region in relation to the current situation.", said SIECA Secretary General Melvin Redondo.
It is worth noting that COMIECO is the highest body for establishing economic integration policies in the region, and seeks consensus solutions, in this case to guarantee the transit of goods.
In this regard, in response to requests from various sectors in the public and private spheres, the Central American Commission of Migration Directors (OCAM) agreed to discuss and establish solutions to the length of stay of cargo transporters in the countries of the region.
The Agreement on Deadlines
The OCAM agreed on the "Regional Migration Operational Protocol for the Transit of Cargo Transporters in the Framework of the COVID-19 Pandemic", which, upon its implementation, will allow for the extension of the stay periods of commercial cargo carriers in the destination country as follows:
These measures respond to the interest of the countries and the SICA institutions to improve the processes that allow for better management of the emergency situation caused by COVID-19, but also to the concerns and worries expressed by the private sector, grouped in the Central American Economic Integration Council (CCIE) and the Central American Chamber of Transporters (CATRANSCA/FECATRANS).
The countries also agreed to review the protocol after a reasonable period of time to monitor it.
The Chief of Staff of the General Secretariat of SICA, Olinda Salguero, during the OCAM meeting, when assessing the effort, stated, “It is important that the response, in this case to the situation at the borders, reflects the will of a Central America willing to find shared solutions that deepen the work between the public and private sectors, but also coordination in all the sectoral areas of SICA.”.
It is essential to maintain effective coordination and collaboration between the authorities that exercise control at border posts (customs, immigration, health, police, sanitary and phytosanitary) to ensure the efficient and continuous operation of regional and national IT platforms to support intraregional trade (DUCA, FYDUCA).
Through SIECA, SICA has strengthened trade facilitation mechanisms, including the Single Central American Declaration (DUCA), which is a trade facilitation measure supported by the region's customs services and the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration (COMIECO).
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