A former technical director of the Customs Department, Eduardo Rodriguez, has called for revisions to customs legislation in order to ensure the success of logistics centers in the Dominican Republic. The Multimodal Caucedo Port began construction of the country’s first Logistic Center in June 2013, making the most of the proximity to Las Americas International Airport at the same Caucedo location. The Caucedo Logistics Center is part of the new trend for Global Trade Facilitation.
In a contribution to Hoy newspaper, Rodriguez writes that while the country has a privileged geographic location and the necessary infrastructure, there is a need to adapt the present rules to cut new operational costs that have resulted from the November 2012 fiscal review.
He said that while costs and processing time are key to logistics, customs procedures, taxation, energy cost and efficiency of other players, such as port operators, airports, local and international transporters, make more of a difference than geography itself.
Rodriguez writes that the DR has one of the best air and maritime port infrastructures in the region, including access roads, which has improved the country’s connectivity in recent years.
But he mentioned that in the DR, because of the free trade agreements that have been signed, the logistics costs (transport, warehousing, distribution of merchandise from the producer to the consumer) usually are more than the customs fees that are paid.
He added that the logistics center was planned when the Multimodal Caucedo Port was installed given the proximity of the Las Americas International Airport. Decree No. 29-98 gave the legal base for the plan, with all the fiscal incentives granted by Law 8-90 on Free Zones.
Rodriguez points out that with the passing of the fiscal reform in November 2012 part of these incentives have been eliminated, including the tax exemption for local sales to domestic market. He said this has a chilling effect on the productive and commercial sectors taking advantage of the logistic center.
He called for a push to get the Senate to pass the bill on Logistics Operation Centers as a special form of merchandise warehousing. He says that the country stands to gain with the operation of the Logistics Centers it will reduce the increase in frequency of maritime and air transport operations will translate into a reduction in the inventory cost of the productive and commercial sectors.
www.hoy.com.do/economia/2013/9/5/497208/La-Republica-Dominicana-en-la-logica-delos-Centros-Logisticos