New dispatch service upgrades departure of goods from ports
President Luis Abinader led the event in which the General Directorate of Customs (DGA) put into operation the “Dispatch in 24 Hours” service, which consists of the departure of goods from the country’s ports within a 24 hours frame.
Abinader explained that together with the structural reforms, collections have increased, highlighting that between January and May of this year the DGA collected 65 billion pesos, which means a surplus of 17 billion pesos compared to projections.
The president said that the income is equivalent to an increase of 49% compared to the same period of 2020 and 22.49% compared to the same period of 2019.
“Total exports from the Dominican Republic between January and April have grown 22.9% and if we compare it with the same period in 2019, the increase is 19.46%. Meanwhile, imports have also experienced signs of improvement, achieving an increase of 20.92%”, he explained.
Likewise, the head of State reiterated the government’s commitment to continue promoting reforms that modernize customs so that they are more efficient, that they respond in a timely manner to the demands of foreign trade, with effective risk management and high-quality standards.
“This modernization program of the ‘Dispatch in 24 Hours’ will allow companies that are organized and are previously certified, to dispatch their goods in record time”.
Logistics hub
On his side, Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, General Director of Customs, reported that in May it was possible to collect about 15 billion pesos, totaling about 68 billion so far this year, exceeding 17 billion pesos the goal set for this year.
Sanz Lovatón expressed that through the “Dispatch in 24 Hours”, it is projected that by 2021 the Dominican logistics chain will save around 500 million pesos and by 2022 about 1.3 billion pesos.
“The ‘Dispatch in 24 Hours’ is another step forward towards the route that seeks to position the Dominican Republic as a world-class logistics hub, and thereby guarantee a safe and agile international trade”, said Sanz Lovatón.
He said that before starting the project, in January this year, only 322 companies were dispatching their cargo in 24 hours. Today, 946 companies are dispatching in 24 hours, which shows a growth of 193% in just four months.
“Projecting that the behavior will continue at the rate it has been up to now, we estimate that by the end of the year we will have a total of approximately 2,000 companies dispatching in 24 hours”, said Sanz Lovatón.
Its implementation began with a pilot of 40 companies, which allowed 100% of these to dispatch their goods in less than 24 hours, which shows the success of the improvements applied throughout the logistics chain.
In 2020, it took six days and 20 hours to dispatch goods, according to a study carried out by the DGA.