New Mexican National Customs Agency

On July 14, the decree creating the Mexican National Customs Agency was published in the Official Federal Gazette as a decentralized administrative body of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit for the purpose of providing prompt attention and support to importers and exporters, as well as to stop the smuggling of goods, drug trafficking and tax evasion. This agency will be endowed with technical, operational, administrative and management autonomy and will be considered a tax authority.

In terms of what has been published, the Agency will have the purpose of organizing and directing customs and inspection services, in order to apply and ensure compliance with the legal norms that regulate the entry and exit of merchandise from the national territory, as well as those related to the collection of taxes and duties applicable to foreign trade operations.

Among other functions, the Agency will be authorized to manage the registers of importers, importers of specific sectors and sectorial exporters, represent the interest of the Federation in tax and customs disputes related to the entry, transit or exit of goods from or within the national territory, determine and settle the taxes and duties applicable to foreign trade operations and their accessories, participate in the negotiation of international treaties carried out by the Federal Executive in customs matters, as well as enter into inter-institutional agreements within the scope of its competence, etc.

As for the integration of the Agency, although it will depend on the SHCP, it may have personnel who belong or have belonged to the armed forces, in accordance with the applicable provisions. In this regard, President Andres Manuel López Obrador has stated that the 49 customs offices in the country will be operated, through the Agency, by members of the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Defense.

The relevant decree will enter into force at the same time as those reforms that grant the jurisdiction currently held by the Tax Administration Service in tax and customs matters to the National Customs Agency. After that, the SHCP will have a maximum period of one hundred and eighty calendar days to propose, to the Head of the Federal Executive, the draft of the Internal Regulations of the Agency.

If you would like further information regarding the above, please contact any of our partners or associates.

Yours sincerely,

Cannizzo