Trade and Commercial Law Assessment - Honduras - Economic ...
Trade and Commercial Law Assessment - Honduras - Economic ...
Trade and Commercial Law Assessment - Honduras - Economic ...
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TRADE AND COMMERCIAL LAW ASSESSMENT DECEMBER 2004<br />
HONDURAS<br />
i.<br />
♦ Because of training <strong>and</strong> the need to meet CAUCA st<strong>and</strong>ards, corruption within the<br />
community appears to have decreased recently.<br />
♦<br />
The Honduran National Federation of Customs Brokers, FENADUANAH, is an active<br />
advocate for trade facilitation. The organization represents<br />
most brokers (197 of 212<br />
licensed brokers).<br />
XI-24<br />
broker<br />
♦ FENADUANAH is making concerted efforts to improve the quality of services provided<br />
by its members. It recently hosted a 7-month course at two locations, holding classes on<br />
Friday evenings <strong>and</strong> all day Saturday. Of the 212 licensed brokers, 205 attended <strong>and</strong> 145<br />
received a diploma for successful completion.<br />
♦ FENADUANAH took the initiative to establish working groups between public agencies<br />
<strong>and</strong> the private sector to reform customs procedures. (This work is now under the<br />
umbrella of CIEMSA, the recently established private-public<br />
trade facilitation<br />
committee.) ♦ Relations with Customs are generally good. The federation receives advance notification<br />
of changes in procedures but is not sought for input into policy-making. Monthly<br />
meetings are conducted with Customs to resolve problems.<br />
2) Customs Brokers Issues to Address<br />
♦ The professional quality of a large number of Honduran brokers is poor, <strong>and</strong> Customs is a<br />
weak regulator. Private sector representatives interviewed<br />
for this assessment estimate<br />
that 40 percent of the sector is still considered to be incompetent or corrupt. Customs<br />
currently suspends 2–3 licenses every 6 months for a period of 59 days. However,<br />
suspension is ineffective<br />
in dealing with the problem, <strong>and</strong> FENADUANAH <strong>and</strong> Customs<br />
should join efforts to improve the quality of the sector <strong>and</strong> take actions to revoke licenses.<br />
♦<br />
The partnership between Customs <strong>and</strong> the broker community needs to be strengthened.<br />
Brokers must be more active in the development of policies <strong>and</strong> procedures. At a<br />
minimum, Customs <strong>and</strong> brokers should share draft<br />
Customs procedures.<br />
Free Zones<br />
Customs officials mentioned that in 1976 <strong>Honduras</strong> granted the government the authority to<br />
establish free zones that included significant tax incentives for manufacturers. In 1987 <strong>Honduras</strong><br />
approved privately operated free zones, which could be established anywhere within the country.<br />
The maquila industry operates mainly in these private zones. Eighty percent of all zones are<br />
located in the north coast, between San Pedro Sula <strong>and</strong> Puerto Cortez. Altogether <strong>Honduras</strong><br />
has<br />
25–30 operating zones, providing service to about 225 companies. Approximately<br />
10–12 zones<br />
house about 50 percent of the users, with the others being relatively small operations. The larger<br />
zones offer a wide range of services, including banking,<br />
employee training, personnel services,<br />
<strong>and</strong> infrastructure.<br />
Curren tly, the tax benefits <strong>and</strong> incentives granted to these operations are secure until 2007, with<br />
extension<br />
possible until 2009 if granted by the WTO under the procedures applicable to