The General Directorate of Customs will launch a new system that allows goods to be withdrawn from ports within 24 hours.
This was reported by the institution’s director, Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, who confirmed that they are working on bringing the measure into effect from June 1 next.
Currently, the cargo clearance is six days and 20 hours.
The head of the DGA assured that this initiative is part of the goal of President Luis Abinader’s government to make the Dominican Republic a more competitive country and make it a world-class regional hub.
“This initiative is a challenge for us. We are making this announcement while holding the hands of God, knowing how difficult it is, but we are determined to achieve it, ”he said.
Sanz Lovatón made these statements at the 12th plenary meeting of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (CNFC), in his capacity as president.
The official also announced the support received by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has been running the Trade Safe (TraSa) program through the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) for five years since June 2021. , with a budget donated by them of 13 million seven hundred thousand dollars.
In this sense, he assured that it was proposed to program managers to designate this budget in three fundamental measures: risk management and the use of non-intrusive technology, the efficiency of the expansion of the Single Window for Foreign Trade (VUCE) and good management of the cold chain and perishable products.
For his part, the Executive Director of the National Competitiveness Council (CNC), Peter Prazmowzki, appreciated the effort to improve customs times and it is an important part of the ‘bureaucracy zero efficient governments’ program that the President has promoted and that this is a cultural and fundamental change for the country.
He indicated that the CNFC is a permanent dialogue and coordination table in which the public and private sectors work to approve measures that will enable compliance with the WTO trade facilitation agreement.