Mexico implements new import legislation

A brief overview of the information needed when importing footwear into Mexico.

As reported in the October 2014 issue of SATRA Bulletin, the Mexican government had announced measures intended to prevent the undervaluation of imported footwear and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of domestic footwear manufacturers. Since that time, the Ministry of Economy (Secretaría de Economía) and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público) has implemented a number of specific actions. These include the requirement for companies acting as the importers to be listed in a sector-specific registry, the designation of certain specific shipping ports to process footwear imports, and the establishment of reference prices for footwear.

One of the key measures that was announced by the government in August 2014 was the establishment of non-tariff regulations and restrictions on footwear imports. As a result, from January 19th, a new automatic licensing system for footwear imports was introduced for what has been called ‘commercial statistical monitoring purposes’. This system covers definitive importations of a number of footwear products which have a unit price below the applicable reference price that was published by the Mexican government on September 5th, 2014.

Anyone who is applying for an automatic import permit for the footwear in question through the electronic single window for trade operations must provide certain information in Spanish, including the following: i) a description of the goods, with such details as, where appropriate, the material used, the percentage that accounts for the majority of the material, the characteristics of the footwear, its construction, the intended wearers and any specific sporting applications, ii) commercial brand(s) and model(s), iii) the type of customs port of entry, iv) the eight digit or ten digit level tariff classification, as applicable, v) the tariff schedule unit of measurement, vi) the commercial invoice number and issue date, vii) the unit of measurement, viii) the quantity to be imported, ix) the conversion factor, x) the currency of commercialisation, xi) the total value of commercial invoice in the currency of commercialisation, xii) the value of the goods to be imported, xiii) the country of export, xiv) the country of origin, and xv) – for goods entering into the country through a seaport – the export document number and the date of issue for the export document.

Other information required in Spanish includes a description of the goods, tariff code in accordance with the nomenclature of the exporting country, the dollar value of the goods to be imported (not including freight or insurance), the unit price in dollars, the name and address of the producer or supplier of the goods (although this information is not compulsory), the name and address of the exporter of the goods and any observations deemed applicable.

An electronic copy of the commercial invoice covering the goods to be imported must also be provided by the importer with a translation in Spanish. For goods entering through a seaport, an electronic copy of the export document with a Spanish translation needs to be attached. The new regulation states that the commercial invoice and export document must have been issued within six months from the date of filing of the automatic import permit request.

The Mexican government has also announced that the import duty reduction on 73 apparel items and seven textile made-ups that was expected to be implemented at the beginning of 2015 has been postponed until January 31st 2019.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 46 of the March 2015 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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