Companies Concerned About the New Customs Reform

The amendment to the Customs Law is intended to step up the fight against the undervaluation of goods, which could cause bottlenecks at the country's customs offices and weaken companies' liquidity, customs brokers reported.

“We do not ignore allegations of fraudulent imports that harm the public treasury, but we believe that the measure intended to combat them is disproportionate for the vast majority of importers who act in good faith,” said Virgilio Antonio Vallejo of the Latin American Confederation of Customs Brokers.

At a meeting, the legislators tasked with analyzing the reform noted that the precautionary lien, which the reform seeks to expand, is viewed as a burden on taxpayers, while the requirement to deposit cash to cover tax differences would undermine companies' liquidity.

“(The reform) will cause congestion at customs and overwhelm inspection agencies, increasing the cost of finished goods for consumers and of raw materials for industry,” warned Vallejo.

Meanwhile, Antonio De la Rosa, deputy director of a customs brokerage firm, warned that if the reform proposed by the federal government were approved, there would be a rise in precautionary seizures of goods, leading to “enormous congestion at the country’s ports and customs offices.”

“Manzanillo can no longer handle the volume of goods; without AIFA, customs at Mexico City International Airport would be overwhelmed,” he said.

Other representatives from the private and civil society sectors expressed their concerns about undervaluation by the authorities when importing competitively priced goods.