SEMINAR ON CROSS BORDER TRADE INAUGURATED
April 08, 2008

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From left to right, the USAID Economic Growth Office Director, Lawrence Rubey; the Minister of Finance, William Handal; the Customs General Director, Hector Gustavo Villatoro; and the Head of the CAFTA Office of the Ministry of Economy, Jorge Guzman, during the inauguration of the seminar.

USAID Promoting Economic Opportunities–a program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)–and the El Salvador Customs Authority inaugurated a seminar entitled, “Customs Facilitation in Cross Border Trade” on April 3. 

This seminar is part of the activities USAID is supporting under its $3.3 million Customs and Business Environment Project.  The project helps the Government of El Salvador to improve the overall business environment and promote increased trade and investment.

The inauguration was the platform to launch three initiatives to boost economic growth and investment in the country.

First, the Customs Authority will develop the “Customs Compliance Program for Businesses” (PACE, in Spanish).  This program will speed the transit of imported goods for small, medium and large enterprises that have a positive record of compliance with customs and fiscal regulations and a low penalty risk, Customs officers said.

Moreover, the Customs Authority announced the launching of the Customs Guide, which has been designed to inform importers and exporters about the procedures the institution is responsible for: whom to contact, customs regulations, tariffs structure, customs obligations of businesses, and the correct documents to attach to a declaration form, among others.

Third, the Customs Authority also launched the initiative of Advanced Binding Rulings.  The project will allow enterprises to consult on valuation, tariff classification and origin of goods before importing them to the country.  As a result, enterprises will avoid wasting time as they will know the standard that the Customs Authority will use when clearing the goods.