GUATEMALA
Based on information collected up to August 2002
1 TARIFF MEASURES
Structure of the tariff schedule
Guatemala adopted in 1993, the Central American Tariff System (SAC), an eight-digit tariff, based on the Harmonized Commodity Description. Ministerial Decision 610-00 of 27 October 2000 and its Regulations approved Guatemala's customs regime based on the Uniform Central American Customs Code III (CAUCA) which lays down basic customs regulations, applicable in the signatory countries. The central American Tariff System is divided into three parts: Part I includes duties that have been harmonized among all CACM countries; Part II consists of headings in the course of being harmonized; and the third part incorporates a small number of headings, which are free to be altered by each member country.Tariff Publications
Under the Secretaria Permanente del Tratado General de Integracion Economica Centroamericana (SIECA), the Sistema Arancelario Centroamericano (SAC) has been published on 1 of April 1993.
| 11 | Tariff Rates
Customs duties are levied on an Ad Valorem basis on the CIF value. Levies on imported dairy products have been set at 39% on the following tariff lines: 0401; 0402; 0403; 0405 and 0406. |
| 12 | MFN
Guatemala grants MFN tariff treatment to all its trading partners. In connection with the Central American Tariff System, the following rates apply to goods: 0% on raw materials, intermediate goods and capital goods not produced domestically; domestically produced raw materials are subject to a 5% levy; domestically produced and intermediate goods and capital goods to 10%, and finished goods to 15%. |
| 13 | Bound Rates
All tariff lines are bound generally at a final ceiling of 40% with the exception of agricultural products ranging from 10% to 257%. Rates higher than 200% apply to corn, palm, soya and sunflower oil. Bound rates are set on imports of poultry meat under tariff line 0207 and subheadings 0207.3910 and 0207.9010 by Acuerdo No. 458-96 of 23 October 1996. |
| 14 | Import tariff quotas are maintained on agricultural
products and apply essentially on the following products in metric tons
levied at the following rates: 7,000 tons of fresh, frozen or refrigerated
poultry meat and poultry-by-products with some exceptions at the rate of
15%, and 45% on extra quota imports. 1,595 tons of fresh and
frozen red meat 0%, and 30% outside quota. 9,100 tons of apples at
12%, outside quota 25%; 415,950 tons of wheat, hard wheat and other
at 1,2%, and 6% on extra quota. 501,820 tons of yellow corn at the
rate of 5% and 35% for outside quota. 40,000 tons of rice paddy at
0%, and 644 tons of milled rice at 18%, and outside quota 32,4%.
19,116 tons of wheat flour at 8.28% and 15% on extra quota.
Meslin and flour, sugar and bovine meat are also subject to import tariff quotas. |
| 16 | Reduced or Suspended Rates
Tariff concessions are under the authority of Ministry of public finance. They are governed by regulations such as Laws 29-89 of August 1989, Law 65-89 of April 1990, and Law 22-73 of June 1973, which grant concessions within the framework of Programme I, II and III. In addition concessions can be granted to institution requesting them, or to particular products as statutory concessions e.g. Article 5 of the Food Enrichment Law through Decree 44-92 of 24 November 1992 which allows duty free import of machinery, equipment and chemicals needed for food fortification. Equally, concessions are granted under processing and drawback procedures mentioned in the Free Trade Zones and Maquila Laws. |
| 19.1 | On 5 May 1961, Guatemala became member of the General Treaty on Central
American Integration (Tratado General de Integracion Economica Centroamericana,
that established the Central American Common Market (CACM) in 1993.
The other participating members are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and
Nicaragua.
Guatemala as a party to the CACM grants duty-free treatment to most goods from other CACM members, with a few exceptions listed in Annex A of the General Treaty. From Annex A, only roasted coffee, alcoholic beverages and petroleum products are subject to customs duties, and the rest to import controls, through Resolution No. 24-96 (COMRIEDRE IV) of 22 May 1996, as amended by Resolution 18-98 (COMIECO-VI) of 24 February 1998. In line with this amendment, and Acuerdo No. 348-96 of 30 August 1996, unroasted coffee (0901.1) and goods derived from petroleum 2710, 27.12, 2713 and 27.15 are as well subject to import duty payment while sugar under tariff lines 1701, 1701.11.00, 1701.91.00 and 1701.99.00 are subject to import control measures. |
| 19.2 | Guatemala and the other Central American governments and Mexico concluded
a Multilateral Framework Agreement (Acuerdo Marco Multilateral) promoting
trade liberalization among the signatories. The 1992 agreement is seen
as the basis for future free trade agreement between the Central American
Members and Mexico; finally, Guatemala, El Salvador,
and Honduras signed a free trade agreement with Mexico. The agreement
came into force on 15 March 2001.
Guatemala is member of the Association of Caribbean States (Asociacion de Estados del Caribe) settled down on 23 June 1993. Its objective is to establish a framework for flexible co-operation on issues such as economic integration trade, investment, transport, communications, science and technology and environmental protection. In addition to the caribbean island states, the Association comprises Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Suriname and Venezuela. Guatemala together with Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, with Mexico, launched in 2001 the PUEBLA-PANAMA PLAN, which objectives among others are to facilitate trade by promoting the elimination of non-tariff barriers and other obstacles to intra-regional commerce. On 12 February 1993, Guatemala and the other CACM countries signed in Caracas, Venezuela, with the presidents of the "Group of three" member countries i.e. Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, a framework agreement applicable as of 30 June 1993, for the establishment of a free zone in the sub-region. The Agreement provides for the elimination of import duties on most products originating from member countries; import duties on remaining products will be eliminated within one to three years with respect to Central American products and within five to ten years for Colombian and Venezuela products. Tariff reductions between Mexico and Central American countries will be agreed on a bilateral basis. The Declaration of Caracas, lays the foundation for a free trade zone between the Group of Three, the Central American and the Caribbean. Guatemala participated in December 1994, in the Summit of the Americas at which, Heads of State from all countries in the western hemisphere (except Cuba) agreed on a programme for a Free Trade Area for the Americas (FTAA) by the year 2005. After a meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Central America and Chile on 17 of August 1998 in Santiago during the 2nd summit of the Americas, the presidents of Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Chile signed on 18 October 1999 in Guatemala City, the definitive text of the free trade agreement between Central America and Chile. Guatemala together with the other CACM members, namely Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua signed with the Dominican Republic, a free trade agreement which came into force on 15 October 2001. Guatemala and other 23 countries from Central America and the Caribbean area, benefit from the CBI, the Caribbean Basin Initiative in force since 1984, an US programme which grants total exemption from import tariffs until 2008 for a wide range of goods originating in the CBI area, with the exception of the following goods: clothing and textiles (for which exists a special programme guaranteeing access to the american market for clothes made in the CBI); canned tuna, petroleum and petroleum products, footwear except disposable articles and shoe parts, some leather rubber and plastic gloves, certain leather garments, clocks and clock parts. Relations between CBI countries and the United States of America have been strengthened with the signature by President Clinton on 2 October 2000, of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) which grants the countries of the Caribbean Basin, beneficial tariff rates and quotas in the USA, to textiles and apparel products assembled from U.S. fabrics excluded from the programme. |
| 19.3 | On 6 of September 1996, the presidents of Guatemala and El Salvador
signed in Guatemala-City, an agreement to establish according to the harmonization
plan, a custom union between the two countries. The parties expect not
only an upswing in bilateral trade areas, but also a greater attraction
for entrepreneurs to both countries. The custom union could also
give a push towards a larger integration by creating the Northern Triangle
(Triangulo del Norte), i.e. Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
As a consequence, the Northern Triangle signed with Mexico, a free trade agreement which entered into force on 15 March 2001 for Guatemala and El Salvador, and on 1 of June 2001 for Honduras. Guatemala has amended its bilateral agreement with Panama into a free-trade agreement, signed on 16 May 2001 in Panama City. In addition Guatemala has concluded several partial scope agreements: Guatemala-Colombia signed on 1 of March 1984; Guatemala-Panama on 20 June 1974, Guatemala-Venezuela on 31 of October 1985, and Guatemala-Cuba in 1999. A co-operation agreement has been signed between Guatemala and the European Union in November 1985. |
| 22.2 | A stamp tax of 3% is levied on the transaction value of all legal documents, including foreign and domestic receipts. |
| 22.9 | A 5% penalty is assessed on the transaction value of goods when goods are wrongly classified at a higher tariff rate, and in the same context, a 25% fine is charged for goods incorrectly classified at a lower tariff rate; and if the declared weight is lower than the actual weight, a 25% fine will be assessed. |
| 23.1 | The value added tax levy is governed by Decreto 27-92 of 1 July 1992
(Ley del Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA). The
Value Added Tax (or IVA) is levied at the rate of 12% on both locally produced
and imported products. On imports, it is calculated on the c.i.f.
value of goods plus import duties. Exemptions from payment of VAT
apply to specified privileged imports, and imports of essential fresh food
products.
VAT exemptions include import of machinery, equipment, parts, components and accessories for the production process, and identified by the Ministry of Economy, in accordance with Decree No. 29-89 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala. |
| 23.2 | The following regulations rule the excise levy
on imports: by Decree No. 536 of 6 June 1948 as amended, beer and other
fermented cereal drinks (under tariff line 112-03-00) are subject to a
rate of 40%, alcoholic drinks (112-04) 80%, wines (112-01) 20%, Champagne
(112-01-03) 20%, vermouth and cider (112-01-05-09) 10%. With Decreto-Ley
No. 74-83 of 1 August 1983, 1% is levied on gaseous drinks and mineral
waters; levies on petroleum products are regulated through Decree No. 38.92
of 29 June 1992 (Ley de Impuesto del Petroleo Crudo y Combustibles Derivados
del Petroleo). Decree as amended No. 61-77 of 23 of December 1977 (Ley
de Tabaco y sus productos) sets excise levy rates on tobacco and tobacco
products.
Specific consumption taxes include tax on the distribution of the following goods: alcoholic beverages between 3% and 15%; cement Q 1.50 per sack of 42,5 kg; crude petrol and fuels between US$ 0.06 and US$ 0.48 per gallon; tobacco and related products 100% of the net wholesale price; on vehicles between 0.1% and 1.0% depending on the age of the vehicle. |
| 31.1 | Minimum import prices are set on the following product categories: rice (HS 10.06), used clothes (HS 63.10), second hand vehicles (HS 87.01-04 and 87.09) and poultry under (HS 02.07). |
| 33.10 | Certain agricultural products such as yellow maize, rice, and sorghum, are subject to a band of prices with variable tariffs ranging from 5% to 45%. Variable tariffs are determined at the beginning of each agricultural season. |
| 43 | The Bank of Guatemala administers foreign exchange controls. Foreign exchange transactions in the public sector are carried out exclusively through the Central Bank. Those in the private sector are executed through banks and foreign exchange houses authorized by the Monetary Board. |
| 43.9 | Foreign exchange proceeds are not required to be surrendered to the Bank of Guatemala, but must be sold to any authorized participant in the interbank market, other than the Bank of Guatemala. |
| 49 | By Decree No. 29-89 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, goods entered under duty free scheme in order to undergo processing for export purposes are liable to drawback regime upon completion of export or re-export operation. |
| 52 | Goods exempt from Free Trade among the CACM members are subject to import control. |
Specific administrative formalities and registration requirement with the administrative authority to obtain an import permit, are applicable to the importation of the following goods detailed in measures starting from 61.71 to 61.79, except 61.75
| 61.71 | The Ministry of Public Health will issue an import permit for the following goods: Foods as dairy produce, birds'eggs, natural honey, edible products of animal origin, edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers, edible fruit and nuts, peel of citrus fruit or melons, coffee, tea, mate and spices, wheat or meslin flour, animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products, prepared edible fats, animal or vegetable waxes, food preparations, sugars and sugar confectionery, cocoa and cereal preparations, vegetable and fruit preparations, beverages, spirits, vinegar and salt, pharmaceutical and medical products, perfumery, cosmetics, toilet preparations, and organic chemical products. |
| 61.72 | An import permit from the Ministry Agriculture
is required for the importation of animals and related products, i.e. live
animals, meat and edible meat offals, fish and crustaceans, molluscs and
other aquatic invertebrates, dairy produce, bird's eggs, natural honey,
edible products of animal origin, prepared animal fodder, raw hides and
skins other than furskin and leather.
Imports of poultry products and by-products is allowed only from countries free from avian influenza and disease, by Decision 025-95 of 8 March 1995, amended by Ministerial Decision 1067 of 14 June 2000. |
| 61.73 | Import permit requirement from the Ministry of Agriculture for importation of plants, seeds and related products, namely, live trees and other plants, bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental foliage, edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers, edible fruit and nuts, peel of citrus fruit or melons, cloves, coffee, tea, mate and spices, cereals, products of the milling industry, oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit, industrial or medicinal plants, straw and fodder. Lac, gums, resins and other vegetables saps and extracts, vegetable plaiting materials, tobacco, wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal, cotton, other vegetable textile fibres, paper yarn and woven fabrics of paper yarn. |
| 61.74 | Import permit requisite from the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture for fuels and products that may damage the environment such as: mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, butiminous substances, mineral waxes, inorganic chemicals, organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, or rare earth metals, radioactive elements or isotopes, organic chemicals, plastics and rubber and articles thereof, electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof, fertilizers, pesticides, and their raw materials, salt, sulphur, earths and stones, plastering materials, lime and cement, residues and wastes from the food industries; sound recorders and reproducers, television image, parts and accessories of such articles. |
| 61.75 | Approval of the CONAP, National Council for Protected Areas is required for the importation of plants and animals into those areas, by Article 30 of the Law on Protected Areas. |
| 61.76 | The Ministry of Public Health issues an import permit for narcotics. |
| 61.77 | Import permits issued by both Ministries of Agriculture and Public Health are required for the importation of salt, sulphur, earths and stone, plastering materials, lime and cement, inorganic chemicals, organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes, and organic chemicals. |
| 61.78 | Import permit requirement from the Ministry of Defense for the importation of arms and ammunition, parts and explosives thereof, explosives, pyrotechnic products, matches, pyrophoric alloys, and certain combustible preparations. |
| 61.79 | Import permit issued by the Ministry of Agriculture for the import of works of arts, collectors' pieces and antiques. |
| 62.1 | Quotas and their allocation for the year 2000 in the framework of market access concern the following products: meat of bovine animals, fresh or chilled (0201); meat of bovine animals, frozen (0202); meat of edible offal of poultry falling under heading 0105, fresh, chilled or frozen (0207); apples (0808); wheat and meslin (1001 1100) and other (1001 9000); maize-corn (1005); rice (1006); and wheat or meslin flour (1101 0000). |
Guatemala applies import prohibition to all its trading partners; prohibition is set to protect human health, animal and plant life, the environment or essential security and military reasons.
| 63.4 | A temporary and precautionary import ban applies to live animals of bovine, bubaline, caprine, ovine, camel, lama and alpaca origin, wild domestic species such as deer, moose, domestic and wild swine, products and by-products derived from mentioned species and products or vegetables origin for animal feed, by Administrative Resolution No. UNR-03-04-2001. |
| 63.71 | Import of animals, meat, milk, and milk products from Belgium is prohibited. |
| 63.72 | In order to prevent the outbreak of food and
mouth disease, an import ban has been set on susceptible live animals;
and to keep the country free from BSE, import prohibition applies to countries
where the disease is active. The import ban includes as well movement
of animal species, their products and by-products which could be vectors
or vehicles for the disease by Administrative Resolution No. UNR-002-001-2001.
A state of emergency due to the presence of avian influenza of low pathogenicity has been implemented through Ministerial Decision No. 1344. |
| 63.73 | Onions may not be imported from countries where pest are prevalent. |
| 63.74 | In relation to the Law for the Protection and Improvement of Environment, Decree 68-89 of 1989 prohibits the import of treated or untreated human or animal wastes. And for public health and environmental concerns, the Law on CFCs in Decree 110-97 of 6 November 1997 sets import prohibitions on products containing CFC and similar products not marketed in their country of origin. |
| 63.76 | Import prohibition of narcotic drugs, by Law against Drug-Related Activities of Decree 48-92 of 23 September 1992. |
| 63.78 | The prohibition of offensive arms and munitions is ruled by Decree 39-89 of 29 June 1989, enforced by the Ministry of Defence, Department for the Control of Arms and Munitions. |
| 66.33 | Revised notification of the third stage of Integration of Textiles and Clothing products. The list of products fulfils the 18 percent of integration required for this stage. This notification is pursuant to Articles 2.8 (b) and 2.11. of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. |
| 81 | COGUANOR, is the Guatemala Commission for Standards
and Technical Regulations created in 1962 by Decree 1523 of 25 April 1962.
Under the authority of the Ministry of Economy, it carries out the elaboration,
adoption and surveillance of standards and technical regulations.
Among the existing 59 standards in Guatemala, 12 of them are identical
to ISO/IEC standards, in addition COGUANOR's series 66,000 is equivalent
to ISO series 9000. The technical regulations and standards apply
in general to all issues related to safety and protection of life, except
fields such as electronic and telecommunications equipment. Guatemala
applies as well the Central American Regulations on Standardization, Metrology
and Authorization procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures in force
since 17 September 1999, with other CACM members; and uses with Mexico,
provisions on standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary
measures of the free trade agreement.
As a rule, Guatemala applies sanitary and phytosanitary regulations to all its trading partners, and to both imported and domestically produced goods. |
| 81.1 | Registration requirement for the importation of seeds, parts of
plants, products and by-products; pesticides, related substances and their
active ingredients, fertilizers and their raw materials; all food products
sold in Guatemala must be registered with the Food Control Office (Oficina
de Control de Alimentos) of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance.
Registration requirement apply to imported foodstuffs in general and those
needing to be fortified such as wheat, flour salt and sugar
in accordance with Decree 44-92 of the Food Enrichment Law of 13 November 1992; the fortification of salt with Iodine is set by Decision 496-93; of wheat Flour through Governmental Decision 496-93; of wheat Flour through Governmental Decision 496-93; and vitamin A fortifying sugar with Governmental Decision 21-2000. When there is no sufficient domestic food safety regulations, the Codex Alimentarius and other internationally recognized norms apply, by Article 138 of the Health Code. |
| 81.11 | Decree 90-97 of 2 October 1997 of the Health
Code, and Governmental Decision 969-99 of 30 December 1999 regulate the
rules for Food Safety.
As the Ministry of Public Health is accountable for all processed food issues, the Ministry of Agriculture endorses all regulations relating to natural, and non-processed food in conjunction with Article 130 of the Health Code. By Article 66, only the Ministry of Public Health
can authorize the import of processed food and raw materials upon registration
of the importer, and in some cases, the presentation of a sanitary of phytosanitary
permit issued by the Unit for Norms of the Ministry of Agriculture testifying
that there is no risk for animal, plant health or hydro-biological resources
with regard to imported goods.
|
| 81.12 | Specific health certificates are required for imports of live animals including pets, livestock, birds and poultry, and bees. Decision No. 1029-99 of Animal Health Standard, protects imports of poultry, poultry products and by-product with the outbreak of Avian Influenza of High or Low Pathogenicity. |
| 81.13 | The Law on Animal and Plant Health and constituents such as Decree 36-98 of 6 May 1998 and Ministerial Decision 679-99 of 27 August 1999 set regulations governing the importation of plants, seeds and related products, amended by Decision 745-99 which subjects every importer of plants seeds, and related products, to apply for a phytosanitary import permit from the Unit of Norms and regulations upon presentation of required authoritative documents. Furthermore the International Plant Protection Convention has been ratified by Decree 6-55 of 7 May 1955. |
| 81.14 | COGUANOR NGO 44 062 establishes technical requirements on pesticides such as Bypiridyls weed killers, Paraquat, dichloride in soluble concentrate form, produced domestically or imported. |
| 81.3 | General labelling requirement on imported goods
as follows: Packages of cigarettes must carry a warning that they may damage
health; pharmaceutical preparation packages must bear the name of the product,
quantity expressed in metric units, ingredients per dose, therapeutic properties,
the inscription "Para uso interno" (internal use), "Para uso externo" (external
use); containers
of serums and vaccines must bear, the date of manufacture and the product
potency period, the preventive, diagnostic, or curative value the storage
instructions. Labels on poisonous substances including insecticides
and pesticides, should bear the word "Veneno" (poison), the name of the
substances and a skull and crossbones. The stick on food label must
include the product description, physical characteristics, net weight/volume,
a list of ingredients and additives, the name and address of the Guatemalan
distributor. Fertilizers labelling must show in spanish required
information. Used clothing must bear an indication that it is used.
The labelling information on the above products must be either in Spanish
or have Spanish strip labels in addition to the English labels, by Decree
90-97 of 2 October 1997, Article 135 of the Health Code, which set that
specific sanitary indications be labelled in spanish.
The metric system of measurements must be used. As a rule, Governmental Decision 969-99 requires that COGUANOR's NGO 34039 labelling regulations be applied to all processed or packaged food destined for human consumption. |
| 81.4 | Eight technical regulations included in the "Catálogo de Normas, series 49 developed by COGUANOR, govern the packaging rules. |
| 81.5 | Testing procedures of goods are acknowledged
in Ministerial Decision 610-99 of 10 August 1999.
By Article 96 of the Constitution all food, pharmaceutical
and chemical products, and all other goods liable to affect public health,
are subject to quality control by the State.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
APHIS, inspects and certifies that imported live plants, plant products
and live animals conform to health and sanitary requirements.
A certificate of quarantine treatment in the country
of origin, and results of testing procedures, and risks analysis complying
with Guatemalan regulations are required by the Unit for Norms and Regulations,
when plants originate in areas infested by plant diseases or epidemics,
or host exotic diseases.
A certificate of analysis showing quality and purity of the product, is required for the importation of fertilizer, and insecticides. |