WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TF/W/65 
21 September 2005 
 
 (05-4159) 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original:   Spanish 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM GUATEMALA 
  
 The following communication, dated 19 September 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Guatemala. 
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GUATEMALA:  EXPERIENCE IN IM PLEMENTING A SPECIAL PROCEDURE 
FOR THE RAPID CLEARANCE OF EXPRESS CONSIGNMENTS 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Pursuant to the provisions of Article VIII of  the GATT which refer to the need to minimize 
the incidence and complexity of import and expor t formalities, the Guatemalan customs authorities 
intend to review their procedures on an ongoing ba sis in order to strengthen the trade facilitation 
process and identify the country's need s and priorities in related areas. 
 2. Rapid release of express consignments plays a vital role in ensuring the competitiveness of 
many companies, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), given the high cost of adhering to commitments and procedures that cr eate delays within their operating systems. 
 
3. Guatemala has worked to improve the impl ementation of the rapid release process, thus 
helping small and medium-sized enterprises to b ecome more competitive and minimizing clearance 
times.  4. The Guatemalan Customs Service rec ognizes the need for rapid clearance of goods 
transported by courier firms, since this is most important in maintaining the competitiveness of those 
using the service.  Acting thro ugh its customs authority ( Intendencia de Aduanas ), Guatemala has 
therefore introduced customs reform procedures to  allow for the speedier clearance of express 
shipments.  Obligations to ensure clearance under such conditions are clearly defined in the Central 
American Uniform Customs Code (CAUCA) an d its Regulations (RECAUCA) and are thus 
permanently inscribed in Guatemalan legislation.     
  
II. GUATEMALA'S EXPERIENCE 
5. Guatemala has recently introduced reforms to  its customs procedures so as to permit the 
immediate release of express consignments.  The customs procedures manual has been duly validated 
and the procedures therein are applied at air cargo customs points.  The reforms have already started 
to yield positive results, for example:  
• The facilities set up to ensure rapid clearance at air cargo customs points in 
Guatemala have been in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since June 2004. TN/TF/W/65 
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 • Once a waybill has been transmitted and receive d in advance, it takes an average of 
three hours for goods to be released from storage, as opposed to the five or six hours required before the advance electronic tran smission of waybills was introduced.  The 
previous system involved the presentation of  paper waybills with no standard format 
for the amount and type of information to be provided and no electronic record-
keeping facilities.  Customs declarations were generated manually by the customs 
inspector and 100 per cent of consignments were inspected. 
  
• Since April 2005, waybills have been transmitted electronically in advance.  This 
process involves the courier firm transmitting the information on the consignment that is to enter the country at least 30 mi nutes before the means of transport arrives, 
although it is often transmitted even sooner.   The information transmitted in the 
waybill is in a uniform format and processed  using EDIFACT standa rd codification.  
With this new system, courier firms transmit the information in the simplified declaration together with the waybill, that is to say, when the goods are presented for 
clearance the customs official uses the waybill number already authorized by the Customs Service to automatically genera te the information in the simplified 
declaration and applies a random selection pro cedure to single out the goods that will 
be subject to inspection. 
 
• All consignments up to a value of $1,000 are cleared under a consolidated 
declaration, without the intervention of a customs agent. 
 
• All express consignments of a value greater  then $1,000 must be declared separately 
through a customs agent and are stored in the courier's warehouse in accordance with 
normal procedures.  Such consignments can be cleared within two hours or less, provided that the requisite documentation is submitted. 
  
• Since July 2005, Guatemala has implemen ted a checking system for the entry of 
goods, which reduces the delays caused by insp ection requirements.  Fifty per cent of 
consignments are given "green status" and are cleared without being physically 
inspected, whilst "red status" consignments are subject to physical inspection before 
clearance.  Selection is carried out through a risk management analysis.  The green/red status is currently determined when the clearance documents are presented 
to customs, after which the customs declaration is issued. 
 
  The advantages of this system are the following: 
 
- The simplified declaration is generated through the system and not by the customs 
official; 
 
- an information database is generated; 
 - more effective control;  - less paperwork;  
-  less discretion for customs officials conducting inspections; 
 -  information is obtained in advance,  so risk analysis can be applied; 
 -  the clearance process is speeded up;  TN/TF/W/65 
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-  the mechanism applied to express consi gnments is separate from that applied to 
consignments subject to the ordinary clearance process. 
 
• The Guatemalan customs authorities have benefited from the cooperation of express 
delivery operators in implementing the new procedure and maintain a regular 
dialogue with the private sector in order to make further improvements. 
  
III. FUTURE ACTION  
• Guatemala continues to assess the need fo r resources and technical assistance to 
improve the implementation of the current  rapid release mechanism for express 
consignments. 
 
• In conclusion, Guatemala continues to examine its customs procedures and will 
continue to implement new reforms at nationa l level, and at Central American level, 
to improve trade. 
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