Activities whose ban the reform removed
13
Reform approved in May 2021Nota publicada por PRONACOM sobreCongress Decree 6-2021, whose text appears on the Organismo Judicial (Judiciary) website, amends art. 41 of the Free Zones Act, Decree 65-89, 'reformado por el artículo 27 del Decreto Número 19-2016' (as amended by article 27 of Decree 19-2016), which lists the activities that may not be produced in or traded from a free zone nor carried out within one; it also amends arts. 1 and 5 Bis and adds art. 50 Bis, which treats obtaining free-zone qualification by deceiving the Ministry of Economy or SAT as a special case of customs fraud. According to the Congress news item of May 12, 2021, the plenary approved it with the favourable vote of 84 deputies; initiative 5174 thereby became a decree, to be sent to the Executive for sanction or veto. The decree text was issued 'EL DOCE DE MAYO DE DOS MIL VEINTIUNO' (on the twelfth of May 2021), bears the National Palace sanction dated 'treinta y uno de mayo del año dos mil veintiuno' (the thirty-first of May 2021), and provides that it enters into force on the day of its publication in the Diario Oficial (official gazette). According to a note published by PRONACOM (May 14, 2021) on the press conference given by MINECO and SAT officials, the reforms remove the ban on 13 activities, most notably recreation centres and hotels and ceramic products; a Diario de Centro América article reproduced by Deguate reports the same. According to Prensa Libre, the restriction was removed for processed foods, biscuits, oils, margarine, pasta, sauces, dairy products, soups and beverages of any kind; animal feed; leather and footwear; plastics and their manufactures; medicines; cosmetics industries; paint; furniture; toys; and electronic devices and household appliances for sale or lease into the national customs territory, as well as ceramic products and recreation centres and hotels. All of those activities were literals of art. 41 as worded by Decree 19-2016; the new wording (literals a) to ee)) no longer mentions them, except as regards beverages: it includes alcoholic beverages, alcoholic liquids and vinegars other than wine and cider (literal b) and mineral or carbonated water, beer and malt (literal c). As the expected effect, the Congress item quotes the Ministry of Economy: 'unos 32 mil empleos y más de US$300 millones de inversión' (some 32 thousand jobs and more than US$300 million in investment); the note published by PRONACOM speaks of 'más de 32,000 empleos y más de US$300 millones de inversión adicional' (more than 32,000 jobs and more than US$300 million in additional investment) according to MINECO estimates. These are official projections, not observed figures.
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- Vote on Decree 6-2021
Favourable vote of 84 deputies
May 12, 2021Congreso de la República - Jobs expected according to MINECO (projection, not observed)
Some 32 thousand
2021 (projection)Congreso de la República - Investment expected according to MINECO (projection, not observed)
More than US$300 million
2021 (projection)Congreso de la República
