Honduras - 2.3.3 Land Border Crossing of El Poy
Overview
It is an integrated custom, the officials of Honduras and El Salvador are in the building of El Salvador, a building of about forty-two years old (year of construction 1963), in good condition, air conditioning, with a spacious parking for trucks, about 200 meters that, at the time of the visit, at eight o'clock in the morning it was empty. Although there were trucks outside the customs, in the area of El Salvador.
The El Poy was implemented jointly for El Salvador and Honduras as bordering countries, the study analyzes in detail the processing of customs operations, in order to identify obstacles or bottlenecks in the border crossing and implement the solutions that are necessary, the study does not include the Customs – Companies partnership approach, which can be elaborated address in an effort in the near future.
Governments and the trade industry share a deep interest in facilitating the passage of goods. Therefore, the activities related to the calculation and recording of the time required in the clearance of goods provide relevant information to introduce improvements in processes or identify changes in regulatory matters in order to guarantee effective trade facilitation.
The El Poy border crossing in the north of Chalatenango will be the first to have the infrastructure for the full functioning of the Customs Union. It is expected to be ready in November this year and will incorporate segregated lanes and the integration of computer systems.
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Border crossing point location and contact |
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Name of border crossing point |
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Province or district |
Ocotepeque |
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Nearest city with distance from the border crossing |
New city Ocotepeque 391 km logistics corridor |
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Latitude |
14,3706 |
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Longitude |
-89.2099 |
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Managing authority / Agency |
Honduran Customs Administration |
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Contact person |
Fausto Calix |
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Travel schedules |
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|---|---|
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Nearest international airport |
Palmerola International Airport 342.3 km Travel time by truck: 7 h 1 min Travel time by car: 7 h 1 min |
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Nearest port |
Puerto Cortes 312.2 km Travel time by truck: 6 h 38 min Travel time by car: 6 h 38 min |
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Closest location with operating wholesale markets, or with significant manufacturing or production capacity. |
Central Market of Ocotepeque 8.6 km Travel time by truck: 16 min Travel time by car: 16 min |
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Additional information |
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Opening hours |
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|---|---|
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Monday |
Open 24 hours |
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Tuesday |
Open 24 hours |
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Wednesday |
Open 24 hours |
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Thursday |
Open 24 hours |
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Friday |
Open 24 hours |
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Saturday |
Open 24 hours |
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Sunday |
Open 24 hours |
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National holidays |
New Year's Eve (January 1) Good Friday (March/April) Holy Saturday (March/April) Easter (March/April) Labor Day (May 1) Independence Day (September 15) Christmas (December 25)
Border points between Honduras and its neighboring countries usually close on these holidays. However, it is important to check with border authorities for up-to-date information on closing times. |
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Seasonal Constraints |
September-November |
Daily capacity
The data received is that there is a daily traffic of 100 trucks, likewise it has a traffic of 300 containers per day on average, about 25% of El Amatillo, 440 vehicles pass per day and in 2022 117,000 operations were made.
Customs Clearance
- Commercial Invoice (original):
The Original Invoice must be formulated in the Spanish language or its corresponding translation attached. That commercial invoice shall contain at least the following information:
- Name and address of the seller;
- Place and date of issue;
- Name and address of the buyer of the goods;
- Detailed description of the goods, by make, model or style;
- Quantity of the goods;
- Unit and total value of the goods; and
- Terms agreed with the seller. When the commercial description of the goods included in the commercial invoice comes in code or codes, the importer must attach to the invoice a list of the information duly decoded.
2. Letter of the means of transport (original):
- Present the transport document that has been contracted and negotiated.
3. Customs Value Declaration (DVA) (original)
4. FAUCA (simple copy):
- Certificate of Origin
5. Phytosanitary Export Certificate of the country of origin (simple copy)
6. category A and B: Phytosanitary certificate (original)
In the case of urgent shipments (DE SOCORRO), the clearance procedure established in Decree No. 147-2020 — Law for the Facilitation of International Humanitarian Assistance in the Event of Disaster and Initial Recovery will apply.
Other relevant information
Since June 1, 2021, the advance electronic transmission of the Central American Single Declaration (DUCA) is mandatory for trade in goods originating in the region (DUCA-F) and for the import or export of goods with third countries (DUCA-D) at the three common border posts between Guatemala and Honduras: El Florido, Agua Caliente and El Corinto, as confirmed by SIECA.
This measure, the first to be implemented in the Central American region in a bilateral and coordinated manner, has a clear objective: to reduce transit and waiting times at common border posts, facilitating foreign trade operations, in compliance with Ministerial Instance Resolutions -UA 83/2020 and 59/2019.
All importers and exporters will be able to make use of the DUCA-F Advance Declaration, through the computer systems of the single windows of each country. In the case of Honduras, all exports with DUCA-F will be made through the Export Procedures Center (CENTREX) of the Ministry of Economic Development; and for Guatemala, through the Single Window for Exports (VUPE)
For the process of filling out and submitting the DUCA-F Advance Declaration of goods:
- The exporter must type, in the CENTREX system in the case of Honduras and VUPE for Guatemala, the information related to the definitive export regime and upload images of the documents that support the regime (Commercial invoice and transport document)".
- CENTREX and VUPE will transmit the information to the computer system of the Customs Service, which will validate the information transmitted and register the Declaration.
- The Customs System of Honduras and Guatemala will send the information to the repository of the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA).
- The system of the countries will receive the validation of the Advance Declaration for the agile passage of the goods.
It is of vital importance to establish the baseline of binational clearance times1 of the import, export and transit regimes at the El Poy border, before the entry into force of the Customs Union, and to be able to quantify the improvements to the processes integrated at that border, the time during which the customs or other type of border control body exercises verification controls causes the general movement to stop. of goods and has become an increasingly important issue for international trade operators and end-users.
For more information on the contact details of the Government, please consult the following link: https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00ZF4Q.pdf