“I would encourage all customs administrations to prioritize the development of a recovery and commercial continuity plan. Coordination with neighboring countries is essential,” said the head of Guatemalan Customs and Vice President of the World Customs Organization for the Americas and the Caribbean Region, Werner Ovalle, on Friday, October 16, at a virtual event of the International Monetary Fund.
In Central America, "the business continuity plan we developed helped define protocols in different scenarios to ensure the rationalization of supply chains for goods," the official added.
To this end, several concepts on the comprehensive customs modernization process were compiled throughout the conversation by Werner Ovalle, to explain Guatemala's management. The same was aimed at providing better attention to the taxpayer and the actors in the foreign trade logistics chain.
“The Guatemalan Tax Administration Superintendency applied a series of compliance measures within the technological modernization process based on the good practices promoted by the World Customs Organization (WCO),” said the head of the organization. He explained:
“We created a set of instructions that allowed the customs service to analyze what actions were being taken and what actions each of the international trade actors should take. The measure allowed us to increase the number of electronic services generated for importers and exporters, thus avoiding face-to-face procedures. We automated three virtual procedures: customs declarations, their traceability, and the SAT Virtual Agency. In addition, we found mechanisms for virtual dialogue with different actors: importers, exporters, and chambers of the business sector, to have feedback on problems and solutions. Finally, we established a voluntary compliance strategy.”
And at the end of the list of measures, Ovalle stressed: "In this way we are reducing discretion and promoting transparency."
Customs agencies are one of the most important links in the logistics chain. And Covid-19 is forcing them to reconfigure their services to guarantee trade.
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