New Customs Law incorporates the use of technology and is aligned with national legislation and international agreements

SANTO DOMINGO. –The Dominican Republic has a new Customs Law, Law 168-21, which brings new features for international trade, by incorporating the use of technology, the country's obligations regarding trade facilitation, and is aligned with the laws of the national legal system, including tax legislation.

The remarks were made by Eduardo Rodríguez Apolinario, an official of the General Directorate of Customs, who stressed that the law establishes new customs offenses that did not exist before (there are crimes that incorporate the behavior of the customs officer, association of criminals) and incorporates new offenses derived from international commitments such as money laundering via trade in goods.

“This law is the first on this side of the world that contemplates an advance declaration mode, which is the presumed declaration; that is, you do not have to declare, I presume that you are declaring ”, a mechanism that only exists in Korea, Taiwan, China and Canada is incorporating it, stated Rodríguez Apolinario.

During the virtual conversation “Analysis and Perspective of the New Customs Law and its Impact on Foreign Trade”, Organized by the Dominican Observatory of International Trade (ODCI) and the International Business School of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), the official said that the law has a series of guidelines that makes the Dominican Republic customs "one of the 21st century in terms of regulations."

"Our law is so new that it incorporates figures that other countries are currently thinking about, incorporates elements on issues related to illicit trade and empowers the customs authority of immediate retention and reinforces the police powers of customs to prevent illicit trade ”Said Rodríguez, during the conference.

On the challenges faced by the customs sector, he cited the communication of the law, so that citizens know its benefits and news. In addition, he considered as another challenge that the universities include customs issues and logistics management within their curricular offer.

Declaration deadlines 

For Francisco Coronado, a professor at INTEC, “what came to reorganize this new legislation”, because all the customs laws that are enacted are made to protect the treasury. In addition, he understood that within the part that customs agents and importers have to face, there are the declaration deadlines that are now shorter.

“For example, one of the things that the importer has to face is that it says (the law) that from the notification of the liquidation you have 10 days to liquidate the merchandise, and if you do not do it you have to pay a 30% surcharge, ”Coronado said.

On why it was relevant for the country to have a customs law reform, Manuel Mercedes, a professor at INTEC, considered that all institutions and the process of globalization of trade require an efficient, transparent and responsive customs authority to these requirements, where the legislation plays the leading role.

The INTEC professor pointed out that, in his understanding, the period between 2005 and 2010 was one of the greatest revolution in Dominican customs, since it generated a series of infrastructure modernizations in terms of human resources and, in addition, the Integrated System of Customs Management (SIGA), a transcendental element in foreign trade and customs.

For Mercedes it was necessary to have an instrument that would gather all the information from the area. “The first contribution is that we have a book (the law) in the academy, and students of International Business, International Economic Relations and all areas have a book, which I would like to have called the customs code. This law supports the innovations that have occurred in the last 20 to 30 years ”.

The event was moderated by Soraya Santana, coordinator of the International Business career at INTEC and Magdalena Lizardo, coordinator of ODCI.