Nelson Urueña, President of the Táchira State Customs Assistants Association (Asoata), stated that trade across the Táchira and Norte de Santander border has been increasing every month.
Anggy Polanco // Correspondent lapatilla.com
“The increase has been sustained, we have achieved gradual growth in the import and export process, and the trade balance continues to be favorable to Colombia,” he said.
The speed of import and export processes has been accelerating. In the case of shipments of baby chicks, they are now nationalized in a time of 45 minutes to an hour, since when they arrive they are readily forwarded to their destination due to the advanced declaration. While the products that arrive in the morning are leaving in the afternoon, Urueña explained.
The speed in the procedures on the Venezuelan side is taking place thanks to the mechanism that exists between the Sanitary Comptroller and the Seniat, whose officials are making up to two and three examinations a day in all the warehouses where cargo has entered. This has helped a lot, in addition to the good coordination also with the clients for the payment of the bills.
“In short, there is a managed coordination that allows us to offer the client the possibility that when their merchandise arrives here it has gone through all the safety (sanitary) checks, the warehouses are up to date, they have been remodeled, that there are no leaks, that their merchandise is insured,” he said.
Currently, 22 warehouses are active, covering 280,000 square meters of physical space and authorized by Seniat (Venezuela’s national tax office), of which 82,000 are covered. Additionally, 66 customs agencies are authorized.
He indicated that they still face some difficulties that arise not only in San Antonio, but also in Paraguachón, and these have to do with payment forms and procedures.
He revealed that some companies such as Mazda and Alpina, from Colombia, have gone to the Táchira border to make the corresponding visits to the warehouses to start operating and moving their products through this region.
Asoata estimates that the market has recovered by around 55% compared to the economic movement of 2015.
They estimate that 5,600 trucks have transited the binational bridges from September 26th, 2022 to the present. The customs assistants calculate that around 1,000 direct jobs have been resumed in San Antonio and Ureña after the resumption of commercial exchange.