USAID Trade program focuses on providing the technical assistance and training necessary for countries in the region to meet obligations contained in CAFTA-DR Chapters Four “Rules of Origin” and Chapter Five “Customs Administration and Trade Facilitation.” The program provides demand-driven assistance to country members on preparation and/or implementation of National Action Plans in the context of Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 19 of CAFTA-DR.
The Trade Program seeks to harmonize laws, policies and regulations related to origin matters and customs procedures. The program responds to specific requests for training and technical assistance from the private and public counterpart including regional organizations such as the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration of Central America (COMIECO, its acronym in Spanish) and its committees such as the Customs Committee and the Rules of Origin Committee.
The program also works with private sector organizations and associations such as Chamber of Commerce and Committees of trade facilitation. The ultimate objective is to improve and modernize customs functions, reducing the time and transaction costs to trade. To do this the assistance includes development of information systems to automate customs procedures and related operations. USAID also seeks trade facilitation by promoting and delivering specialized training and technical analysis to reduce documents, signatures, clearance time, and cost. Trainings include: commodity valuation, classification of goods, risk management, and post-entry audit.
USAID assistance:
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Harmonizes customs procedures in the region by drafting manuals and regulations based on international standards, such as those stemming from the World Customs Organization. As a result, exporters and importers increase their efficiency, devoting less time to handling export and import declarations.
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Helps streamline determination of the origin of goods, as requested by CAFTA-DR article 21 of Chapter 4, by creating common guidelines for determination of origin, thus reducing errors in the identification of goods that should receive lowered or zero-tariffs under CAFTA-DR.
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Reduces the clearance time of goods and diminishes transportation costs by helping customs authorities in the region to implement risk management modules that enable them to automatically select cargos or shipments for inspection based on risk criteria, thus reducing the number of cargos requiring physical inspection.
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Simplifies and automates importation procedures through mechanisms such as the one-stop, virtual single window for imports, as well as the development of software to determine the origin of goods and issue a certificate of origin. This saves time and lowers costs for importers, making regional businesses more competitive.
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Improves the processes for determining rules of origin and assigning physical inspections of cargo by training public and private sector trade representatives. This allows exporters and importers to be certain that zero- and preferential tariffs awarded under CAFTA-DR are justified and accurate and that zero-tariff benefits will not be revoked in the future.
This website presents the results and products of the USAID CAFTA-DR Regional Trade Program, including manuals, evaluations, project descriptions, and more. Visit it at:
http://www.caftadr.net
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