Francisco X. Santeiro, executive director of the Conference of Latin American & Caribbean Express Companies (CLADEC): “In these economically challenging pandemic times, it is crucial that governments implement trade facilitation measures that support sustainable economic recovery. This includes ensuring better access for businesses to competitive production inputs from abroad and supporting their participation in global value chains and e-commerce. This can be particularly important for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. Regrettably, interested parties have not yet reached an agreement to address the situation that gave rise to the work slowdown by Brazil’s customs officers, which has had a critical impact on foreign and local businesses and Brazilian citizens. The situation has worsened over the past months and has now become unsustainable. Express shipments are being delayed by seven days on imports and five days on exports, affecting the supply chain’s competitiveness with…”