The Bulletin “Featured Country” edited by the Regional Vice-Presidency of the World Customs Organization (OMA) has as one of the protagonists of 2021 Panama for the role of its Customs, which has been modernized, overcoming delays and uncertainties for the competitiveness and growth of the country.
Thus, the delivery of the latest emblematic publication, with general, commercial and customs information of the country, was carried out at the Director of Customs, Tayra Ivonne Barsallo, one of the first women on the continent to be a member of the WCO Policy Commission.
In this way, Panama, the country that unites Central and South America, joins Antigua and Barbuda and Chile, as highlights of the year 2021, for the advances in customs modernization and innovation, as well as for its regional contribution.
In the new edition, Tayra Barsallo pointed out what were the pillars of its management: “…we have focused on implementing the digitalization of the procedures to shorten the duration times.” He also highlighted the plan and the roadmap to drastically reduce the procedures for citizens and companies with State agencies, as well as the implementation of the Document Management System.
In terms of security,The official stated that “the entity carries out inter-agency intelligence exchanges on money movements between the different regulators” and maintained that “it allows Customs to update the risk assessment strategy, carry out effective mitigation actions and have operational intelligence to deal with new forms of money laundering.”
Barsallo highlighted the role played by professional human resources. He added: “The fight against tax evasion and smuggling has also been intensified through the operational arm of Customs with the support of Panamanian security institutes.”
Regarding the customs modernization, the Director mentioned the updating of the laws on smuggling, fraud and intellectual property to adjust the responses to the new trends of organized crime. Of course, she pointed out the Customs Logistics Integration Program (PILA) that allows for ensuring traceability on fiscal routes, modernizing processes with technology, infrastructure and control equipment at three border crossings.
"We have developed a work plan to increase customs revenue and contribute to the economy affected by the pandemic," said the Director.
Along those lines, he described the Main actions to address the challenges imposed by the health crisis He also highlighted that 35 digital functionalities were enabled. He referred to the process of adopting the State Payment Gateway to allow compliance with customs duties via credit and debit cards; an application was also created to digitalize requests and documents for tariff exemptions, simplifying the approval process in the Integrated Customs Management System.
In terms of trade facilitation, the official said that tariff barriers on essential supplies were eliminated, and “Electronic Advance Clearance” was implemented for the delivery of relief goods, achieving greater customs agility and efficiency. Finally, she highlighted the active participation of Panamanian Customs in regional meetings for the approval of the Biosecurity Guidelines applied to Central American land transport.
As a result, according to the country's trade information, the Panama's economy January and June 2021, GDP "reached a for Growth accumulated growth of 10,0%, with a significant expansion of the indicator in the second quarter in a 40,4%, compared to the same period in 2020, when the country's economy was semi-paralyzed due to measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was explained that "for the second quarter of 2021, mitigation measures and the vaccination process have allowed health authorities to reduce or eliminate restrictions established to contain the pandemic, contributing to economic activities beginning their recovery process."
The Bulletin noted that the activities related to the domestic economy that had a positive performance in the second quarter were mainly construction, transportation and communications, trade, government services, health, and real estate and business, while financial services showed declines.
The sectors linked to the external economy that grew were "mining and quarrying, boosting the economy with the production of copper concentrate by 493,3%, and the Panama Canal, with an increase in its toll revenues by 20,2%, especially those related to the transit of Neopanamax vessels by 21,5%."
Port operations also expanded, due to the increased movement of TEU containers by 17% and re-exports from the Colon Free Zone by 62,4%, while exports of bananas, pineapples and fish showed decreases, according to official data published in the Bulletin.«Featured Country Panama» Magazine)
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