Authorities in Guatemala and Honduras led the launch of priority Peripheral Customs Offices of the Customs Union to streamline the movement of goods between the two countries and take a step closer to the Customs Union.
“The Customs Offices of Tecún Umán II (Guatemala), Puerto Cortés and Guasaule (Honduras) were prioritized by the authorities of Guatemala and Honduras to begin operations as of October 1, 2020 as Peripheral Customs Offices of the Customs Union; the rest of the Customs Offices of Guatemala and Honduras will continue to operate normally,” reported the SAT of Guatemala.
The inaugural ceremony of the prioritized Peripheral Customs Offices of the Customs Union was held this Thursday (01.10.2020) in Puerto Cortés, Honduras, and was chaired by Antonio Malouf, Minister of Economy of Guatemala; María Antonia Rivera, Presidential Designate of Honduras; Marco Livio Díaz, Head of Tax Administration of Guatemala and Werner Ovalle, Superintendent of Customs of Guatemala.
Also participating were Juan José Vides, Executive Director of Honduras Customs; Melvin Redondo, Secretary General of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) and Juan Carlos Sikaffy, President of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise.
At the opening of the ceremony, broadcast virtually on Facebook, María Antonia Rivera, Presidential Designee and Minister of Economy of Honduras, highlighted: «These actions demonstrate the formal commitment by both nations and their governments to promote a real Customs Union, the first on the American Continent.«.
In turn, Minister Malouf stressed: "I would like to call for us to continue to coordinate efforts that strengthen us as a region, working with the productive sector, generating the appropriate conditions for a competitive Central America and a region of opportunities.".
«This is an example of real actions that we must take at a regional level to promote real Central American integration. It is the beginning of a Peripheral Customs system for the benefit of all."added Marco Livio Díaz, Superintendent of Tax Administration at SAT.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Enrique Melvin Redondo, Secretary General of SIECA, emphasized: «Guatemala and Honduras represent an important part of trade in the region. The integration of the Peripheral Customs Offices shows the firm step and demonstrates the leadership of both countries in the process of Central American integration..
Both Guatemala and Honduras launched the Customs Union on June 26, 2017 and since then have been moving towards the consolidation of a single customs territory that represents 44% of the Central American territory, 55% of the regional population, 38% of the GDP, 39% of total exports of goods and 43% of intraregional exports.
The Customs Union between Guatemala and Honduras has three Integrated Border Posts (Corinto, El Florido and Agua Caliente) and ten Peripheral Customs Offices, of which three (Tecún Umán II, Puerto Cortés and Guasaule) begin operations this Thursday, October 1 as prioritized Peripheral Customs Offices of the Customs Union.
The incorporation of these customs into the integration process translates into two positive aspects: the greatest circulation of goods in the shortest possible time and a reduction in logistics costs.
At the end of the ceremony, the authorities of Guatemala and Honduras visited the Priority Customs Office of Puerto Cortés, an example of how the improvement of this regional economic agreement with global projection can be jointly promoted.
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