Lack of Costa Rican customs staff blocking truck transport

COSTA RICAN customs offices do not have enough staff to handle the flow of cargo from Panama to the rest of Central America.

While on the Panamanian side there are about 25 people to process documents from carriers, on the Costa Rican side at Paso Canoas, there are only 5 staff members to carry out these duties says a CentralAmericaData report.

The situation occurs at a time when "the international freight activity going from Paso Canoas to Central America has increased by 50% ", reported Prensa.com. In recent days up to 150 trucks have accumulated, waiting their turn to pass through.

Abdiel Lezcano Panama’sregional administrator of Customs, says it is at this time of the year with merchandise leaving the CFZ (Colon Fress Zone) to go to Central America via Paso Canoas, up to 6000 trucks a month pass through.

"At this customs office, working hours are from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm from Monday to Sunday, and because we use a single document called the FAUCA (Formulario Aduanero Único de Centroamérica), the procedure to go through the Panamanian border should take between 15-20 minutes," he said.

However, staff is scarce on the Costa Rican side, so they have decided to resume talks with the authorities in order to expedite passage at this border crossing.