Trade and Commercial Law Assessment - Honduras - Economic ...

TRADE AND COMMERCIAL LAW ASSESSMENT DECEMBER 2004
HONDURAS
a.
♦
Corruption is said to have decreased at Immigration. Payments for immigration services
are now made directly to banks, which have eliminated opportunities
for corruption.
♦ The Immigration Agency seeks to better facilitate
trade by training and deploying more
English speakers.
♦ Honduras is implementing a biometric identification system for visitors. However, this
was not in use at any of the border crossings, airports, or seaports the assessment covered
and is therefore difficult to assess. The system may have the potential to streamline the
entry process and secure the border.
Honduras
can further support trade facilitation through the following measures:
♦
Like other public agencies, Immigration suffers from a lack of a professionalized service
attributable to politicization of the bureaucracy. This situation leads to corruption and
delays, which seriously hamper immediate at-the-border trade facilitation and impact
Honduras’s attractiveness for FDI.
As with other agencies, it is critical to provide civil
service reform that creates an agency that is intelligently recruited, well trained, and
honest.
♦ Although measures such as mandatory bank payments strengthen integrity, the result of
such a system is an added step to the process. Creating a transparent, professional, and
trusted institution is critical. Honduras should seek to make the public agencies part of a
strong civil service with as little political
influence as possible. Key functions, including
recruiting, hiring, retention, training, integrity, and automation,
should all be part of this
effort.
♦ Although Immigration does have computers at the borders, it lacks modern
systems for
using the computers. The border posts are not linked to headquarters via e-mail or
intranet. Further, no border crossings have technology capable of reading passports.
♦
Immigration Issues to Address
At border exits, Honduras (and other Central American countries) requires citizens and
visitors to check out of the country. This adds another unnecessary step to the people
flow process. Strong entry controls, risk management, and proper enforcement should
allow governments to reallocate
resources and remove the requirement for checking all
those who exit.
♦ At airport exits, Honduras collects three fees from three different windows from exiting
travelers. Although the overall fee is not that significant
($29), it is a cumbersome
bureaucratic process and a poor use of resources (three collectors where one or none
would do). The most efficient and transparent system would involve collections by the
airlines with electronic disbursements to the appropriate agencies.
♦ With respect to illegal immigration, Honduras’s
institutions are improving, but they are
still inadequate for safeguarding the country’s borders. Immigration officers need further
training in identifying false documentation, including training in investigations and
procedures.
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