NORMATIVA PARA MANTENER PROTEGIDA LA INFORMACIÓN CONFIDENCIAL DE LOS OPERADORES DE COMERCIO PARA EL SALVADOR

The program is focused on improving the efficiency and transparency of customs operations in the region. The CAFTA-DR treaty was signed on August 5, 2004, by the Dominican Republic, Central America, and the United States. The treaty has been ratified by the legislative chambers of the United States, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica. The treaty entered into force for El Salvador on March 1, 2006, for Honduras and Nicaragua on April 1, 2006, for Guatemala on July 1, 2006, and for the Dominican Republic on March 1, 2007. In Costa Rica, the CAFTA-DR was approved through a referendum on October 7, 2007, and entered into force on January 1, 2009. The Regional Trade Program for CAFTA-DR is working to address the deficiencies in the levels of compliance regarding the obligation to maintain procedures for protecting the disclosure and handling of confidential information provided by another CAFTA-DR member country. This is specified in Article 5.6 of the treaty, which states that a party providing information to another party must maintain the confidentiality of that information. The party providing the information may require written guarantees from the other party that the information will be kept confidential, used only for the specified purposes, and not disclosed without the specific authorization of the party providing the information. The program is developing a normative framework to protect the confidentiality of information provided by operators of foreign trade, including information provided by other CAFTA-DR member countries. The framework will include procedures for maintaining the confidentiality of information, definitions of confidential information, mechanisms for securing confidential information, and requirements for requests for confidential information from other CAFTA-DR member countries. The normative framework will be developed in collaboration with the Planning Unit and Quality Management Unit, as well as the Modernization Division of the General Directorate of Customs of El Salvador. The framework will include the following elements: * Procedures for maintaining the confidentiality of information provided by operators of foreign trade, including information provided by other CAFTA-DR member countries. * Definition of confidential information. * Mechanisms for securing confidential information. * Requirements for requests for confidential information from other CAFTA-DR member countries. The program is working to improve the efficiency and transparency of customs operations in the region, while also protecting the confidentiality of information provided by operators of foreign trade. The development of the normative framework is a critical step in achieving this goal.