Border customs point opened with El Salvador

By Bufete Mejía & Asociados

Honduras has opened its 26th custom office, after authorities from different government institutions inaugurated the Mocalempa border point, in the department of Lempira, bordering with El Salvador.

The Mocalempa office has the goal of facilitating customs compliances such as tax payment and the fight of smuggling in this area of ​​the country, they explained.

“Though this new office we establish a need of creating a logistics development center in the Eastern part of Honduras that makes us more competitive”, said Carolina Menjívar, Director of the National Institute of Migration (INM). “The office will deal with import and export procedures, will be a point of immigration and quarantine control when a situation occurs. And it will greatly help us with counterfeiting, piracy and smuggling”, she added.

Honduras ratified the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) on July 2016, becoming the fifth Central America nation to accept the new accord. Concluded at the WTO’s 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, the TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. It further contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area.