The Customs Union in the field of trade facilitation, today more than ever, becomes an alternative to boost the Central American economies. To this end, El Salvador expressed its willingness to move forward in an accelerated manner in the process of deepening economic integration already initiated between Guatemala and Honduras, according to the SIECA statement.
During the Ministerial Meeting of the Deep Integration Process, held this Friday (30.07.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX), the Minister of Economy of El Salvador, Maria Luisa Hayem, He reported: “We announce our commitment to accelerate our full incorporation into the deep integration process and thereby establish a single customs territory, where goods from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador can circulate freely and more quickly.”
Hayem added that the short-term objective is to have integrated border posts, with trade facilitation lanes and with control centers where officials from the three countries can work in a coordinated manner to dispatch goods more expeditiously.
It should be noted that trade facilitation involves improving border management processes to make import and export operations more agile and easy, and consequently, impact on reducing the cost of trade.
According to the statement, the new Secretary General of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), Francisco A. Lima Mena, He stated that this technical and administrative body will support the updating of the Roadmap which includes four components:
- Normative
- Computer developments and Community Computing Platform (PIC)
- Infrastructure and equipment for the functionality of the single customs territory
- Structural and Investment Fund of the Customs Union (FEIUA)
The meeting was also attended by María Antonia Rivera, Presidential Designee and Minister in Charge of the Secretariat of Economic Development of Honduras, and Edith Flores de Molina, Vice Minister of Integration and Foreign Trade of Guatemala, who expressed their satisfaction and pleasure in receiving the news. They also stressed that they will work hand in hand with El Salvador to achieve the integration goals in the short term.
"The next steps to follow will be to review and update the roadmap of said process and resume the work of the technical committees of Customs, Internal Revenue, Immigration, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Security, Tariffs and Origin," SIECA explained.
Data from the three economies
- Territory: 242,422 km2 equivalent to 57.1% of the Central American territory
- Population: 31,2 million inhabitants, representing 73.7% of the population of Central America
- Gross domestic product: USD 117,861.8 million, equivalent to 62.5% of the GDP of Central America
- Commerce: USD 6,208.2 million, representing 69.6% of intraregional trade.
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