G/SCM/N/343/HND/Suppl.2  
21 July 2020 
(20-5036) Page: 1/3 
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 notification, dated 17 July 2 020, 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  
 
2019 
 
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 jobs.  
 
4. Background and authority for the subsidy (including identification of the legislation under 
which it is granted ) 
 
The Temporary Import Regime (RIT) was established for the purpose of strengthe ning the Honduran 
economy, boosting domestic production and increasing exports, promoting employment  in 
combination with other national and foreign resources, stimulating investment and creating  
mechanisms for the development of export industries and incre asing foreign trade by fostering 
export diversification . This Regime has its 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 1 985 and Decr ee No. 135-94 of 2 8 October 1 994, which rescinds the 
exemption from corporate tax for enterprises covered by the regime as from that date.  
 
The purpose of the Law on Free Zones was to take advantage of the geographical location of 
Honduras in the Central A merican and Caribbean region in order to provide opportunities for the 
development of domestic and international trade, as well as to create more employment 
opportunities through the establishment of commercial and industrial free zones . It has its legal 
basis in Decree No. 356 of 1 9 July 1 976, as amended by Decree No. 131-98 of 2 0 May 1 998, whereby 
the title of the law setting up the Free Zone of Puerto Cortés was changed to Law on Free Zones and 
the benefits and provisions of the law were extended to the entire national territory.  G/SCM/N/343/HND/Suppl.2  
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  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 duties, taxes and inte rnal 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 
imports.  
 
Free Zones  
Free zone benefits are extended to all Honduran and foreign natural and legal persons eligible under 
the regime as users or user -operators.  
 
Benefits under the La w: 
 
Export -based commercial and industrial enterprises, 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 custo ms 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, companies established in this zone are exempt from the payment of corporate tax 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 (indicat ing, if possible, the average subsidy per unit in the previous 
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 programm es 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  
 
The tax b enefits currently granted to enterprises under the RIT and Free Zone programmes may be 
enjoyed for a period of up to 12 years ; under the RIT, firms are no longer exempt from corporate 
tax, in accordance with Decree No. 135-94 of 2 8 October 1 994. 
 G/SCM/N/343/HND/Suppl.2  
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  9. Statis tical 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 s uch information 
include statistics of production, consumption, imports and exports of the subsidized product(s) 
or sector(s ): 
 
(a) for the three most recent years for which statistics are available;  
 
(b) for a previous representative year, which, where possible and meaningful, should be 
the latest year preceding the introduction of the subsidy or preceding the last major 
change in the subsidy.  
 
 
STATISTICS GENERATED BY FREE ZONE AND TEMPORARY IMPORT REGIME BENEFICIARY 
ENTERPRISES 2018 - 2019 
YEAR  JOBS GENERATED  
TEMPORARY IMPORT  
REGIME  (RIT)  FREE ZONES  
2018 68,762 131,027 
2019 72,083 132,385 
 
IMPORTS OF MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT, RAW MATERIAL AND INPUTS  
YEAR  TOTA L IMPORTS  
TEMPORARY IMPORT  
REGIME (RIT)  FREE ZONES  
2018 10,414,865,644.00 94,873,402,102.00 
2019 10,409,659,722.00 96,871,030,444.00 
 
EXPORT S, RE-EXPORTS AND  SERVICES OF FREE ZONE BENEFICIARY ENTERPRISES  
YEAR  EXPORT S RE-EXPORT S SERVIC ES 
2018 133,108,716,200.00 15,126,612,314.00 9,005,122,288.00 
2019 151,697,008,574.00 15,343,967,254.00 10,559,118,376.00 
 
EXPORT S, TRANSFERS, COMPLEMENTA RITY AND 
SUBCONTRA CTING BY ENTERPRISES  UNDER THE TEMPORARY IMPORT REGIME  
YEAR  EXPORTS  TRANSFERS TO FREE 
ZONES  COMPLEMENT ARITY  SUBCONTRACTING  
2018 163,153,692,528.00 3,958,790,715.00 1,242,290,720.00 123,287,200.00 
2019 46,591,778,616.00 3,665,412,912.00 2,648,861,923.00 544,953,228.00 
Note:  Information provided by  435 ZOLI enterprises and 185 RIT  enterprises.  
Sourc e:  Secretariat for Economic Development (preliminary data ). 
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