G/SCM/N/ 401/HND /Suppl.1  
8 January  2024 
(24-0171) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Subsidies and  
Countervailing Measures  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
SUBSIDIES  
NEW AND FULL NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XVI:1 OF THE  
GATT 1994 AND ARTICLE 25 OF THE AGREEMENT ON  
SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES  
HONDURAS  
Supplement  
The following communication , dated and received on 29 December  2023, is being circulated at the 
request of the delegation of Honduras.  
 
_______________  
 
 
1. Title of the subsidy programme, if relevant, or brief description or identification of the subsidy  
Temporary Import Regime (RIT) and Free Zones.  
2. Period covered by the notification  
2022 
3. Policy objective and/or purpose of the subsidy  
These incentives are designed to promote exports, attract investment, stimulate production and 
competitiveness, support human development and create new jobs. 
4. Background and authority for the subsidy (including identification of the legislation under  
which it is granted ) 
The Temporary Import Regime was established for the purpose of strengthening the Honduran 
economy, boosting domestic production and increasing expo rts, promoting employment  in 
combination with other domestic  and foreign resources, stimulating investment , creating  
mechanisms for the development of export industries and increasing foreign trade by fostering 
export diversification . This programme  has it s legal basis in Executive Decree No. 37 of 20  December  
1984, as amended by Legislative Decree No. 190-86 of 3 1 October 1 986; Legislative Decree  No. 8-
85 of 7 February  1985; Decree No. 135-94 of 2 8 October 1 994, which  rescinds the exemption from 
income  tax for enterprises covered by the Regime as from that date ; and Decree No. 278-2013 of 
30 December  2013 establishing a time  limit for the enjoyment of benefits . 
 
The Law on Free Zones was  established in order  to take advantage of the geographical location of 
Honduras in the Central American and Caribbean region , with a view to provid ing opportunities for 
the development of domestic and international trade, as well as to create more employm ent 
opportunities through the establishment of  enterprises  with Free Zone  benefits,  whose activities are  
commercial  or industrial  or involve the provision of complementary or electronic service s (call 
centres and outsourcing services).  It has its legal bas is in Decree No. 356 of 1 9 July 1 976, as 
amended by Decree No. 131-98 of  20 May 1998, whereby the title of the law setting up the Free G/SCM/N/ 401/HND /Suppl.1  
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  Zone of Puerto Cortés was changed to the Law on Free Zones and the benefits and provisions of the 
Law were extended to the entire national territory ; Decree No. 278-2013 of 31 December  2013, 
which strengthened the measures for the control and fiscal monitoring of the benefits granted; 
Decree No. 8-2020 of 14 February 2020  containing the amendment to the Law o n Free Zones , which 
established customs control measures and extended the period for the enjoyment of the benefit; 
and Agreement No. 41-2020 of 10 May 2 020, which issued the new Regulation s implementing  the 
Law o n Free Zones.  
 
5. Form of the subsidy (i.e. grant, loan, tax concession, etc .) 
The only benefits granted under the special regimes are exemptions from and suspension (in the 
case of the Temporary Import Regime) of import d uties, taxes and internal charges.  
6. To whom and how the subsidy is provided (whether to producers, to exporters or others ; 
through what mechanism ; whether a fixed or fluctuating amount per unit ; if the latter, how 
determined ) 
Temporary Import Regime  
The beneficiaries of the Temporary Import Regime are natural and legal persons eligible under the 
Regime.  
 
Benefits under the Law : 
Producers/exporters duly authorized under this Regime are not subject, when importing goods, to 
the payment of customs duties or any other taxes or charges, including the general sales tax on the 
import  of goods previously authorized under a Resolution issued by the Secretariat of State for 
Economic Dev elopment . 
 
Free Zones  
Free Zone benefits are extended to all Honduran and foreign natural and legal persons eligible 
under the regime as users , operators or user -operators  whose activities are commercial or 
industrial or involve the provision of complement ary or electronic services (call centres and 
outsourcing services).  
 
Benefits under the Law : 
Export -based commercial and industrial enterprises,  as well as service providers,  duly authorized 
at the time of bringing goods into the Free Zones, are exempt from the payment of customs 
duties, charges, surcharges and other taxes and levies directly or indirectly related to customs 
import operations  
Sales and output in the Free Zone and commercial and industrial property and establishments 
located therein are exempt from the payment of municipal taxes and charges at the end of the fiscal 
year. Similarly, enterprises  established in this zone are exempt from the payment of income  tax and 
related taxes on operating profits at the end of the fiscal year.  
7. Subsidy per unit, or in cases where this is not possible, the total amount or the annual amount 
budgeted for that subsidy (indicating, if possible, the average subsidy per unit in the p revious 
year) . Where provision of per -unit subsidy information (for the year covered by the 
notification, for the previous year, or both) is not possible, a full explanation  
The nature of the programmes makes any calculation of the amount of the subsidy per unit 
impossible . The information requested can therefore not be provided.  
8. Duration of the subsidy and/or any other time  limits attached to it, including date of 
inception/commencement  
Temporary Import Regime:  
Pursuant to Article 23 of Decree  No. 278-2013 of 30 December  2013, tax benefits may be enjoyed 
for a period of up to 12 years  in cases where the law granting the benefit does not provide for a time  
limit for its enjoyment, as is the case with  enterprises under the Temporary Import Regime , which 
have a period of up to 12 years  for enjoyment of benefits, in accordance with Agreement G/SCM/N/ 401/HND /Suppl.1  
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  No. 462-2014 of 21 July 2014, containing the Regulations implementing the aforementioned Decree, 
under which the time  limit is governed as follows:  
• For enterprises that were already enjoying benefits prior to the entry into force of Decree 
No. 278 -2013, the 12 -year period is counted from the Decree's entry into force (1 January 
2014) .  
• For enterprises incorporated subsequent to the entry into force of Dec ree No. 278 -2013, the 
12-year period is counted from the date on which they were first covered  by the fiscal regime 
or law . 
 
Free Zones:  
Pursuant to Article 4 of the Law on Free Zones , enacted by  Decree No. 356 of 19 July 1976 , as 
amended by Decree No. 8 -2020 of 14 February 2020 , enterprises operating in Free Zones are eligible 
for the benefits granted under this Law  so long as  they are covered by and operating under the 
aforementioned Regime , with the exception of income tax and related tax benefits, which are 
granted for a period of  15 years  and may be extended , upon termination, for a nother  10 years.  This 
extension is authorized by the Secretar iat of State for Economic Development in accordance with 
the conditions established in the Regulat ions implementing  the Law on Free Zones . 
9. Statistical data permitting an assessment of the trade effects of the subsidy . The specific 
nature and scope of such statistics is left to the judgment of the notifying Member . To the 
extent possible, relevant and/or determinable, however, it is desirable that such information 
include statistics of production, consumption, imports and exports of the subsidized product(s) 
or sector(s ): 
  G/SCM/N/ 401/HND /Suppl.1  
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  NUMBER OF ENTERPRISES UNDER SPECIAL REGIMES  
2022 
YEAR  NO. OF JOBS  
TEMPORARY IMPORT REGIME  FREE ZONES  
2022 204 567 
 
JOBS  GENERATED BY ENTERPRISES UNDER SPECIAL REGIMES  
2022 
YEAR  NO. OF JOBS  
TEMPORARY IMPORT  
REGIME  FREE ZONES  
2022 58,696 176,763 
 
MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT, RAW MATERIAL AND INPUTS  IMPORTED  
BY ENTERPRISES UNDER SPECIAL REGIMES  
2022 
YEAR  TOTA L IMPORTS  (HNL)  
TEMPORARY IMPORT  
REGIME  FREE ZONES  
2022 16,519,070,480.00  189,212,723,087.00  
 
EXPORT S, RE-EXPORTS AND  SERVICES OF ENTERPRISES  IN FREE ZONES  
2022 
YEAR  EXPORT S (HNL)  RE-EXPORT S (HNL)  SERVIC ES (HNL)  
2022 243,662,019,612.00  27,447,928,221.00  20,249,946,463.00  
 
EXPORT S, TRANSFERS, COMPLEMENTA RITY  AND SUBCONTRA CTING 
BY ENTERPRISES  UNDER THE TEMPORARY IMPORT REGIME  
2022 
YEAR  EXPORTS  (HNL)  TRANSFERS  
(HNL)   COMPLEMENT ARITY  
(HNL)  SUBCONTRACTING  
(HNL)  
2022 53,556,493,025.00  5,539,487,554.00  2,400,826,563.00  864,687,899.00  
Sourc e: Data provided by enterprises benefiting from special regimes , in their Statistical Reports and Legal 
Declarations (2022) submitted to the Directorate -General of Productive Sectors, Secret ariat of State 
for Economic Development . 
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