The Ministry of Economy (Secretaría de Economía—SE) has recently updated its criteria for the temporary importation of “sensitive goods” under the “8th rule” (regla octava).
Highlights of the document (Spanish) include:
- 8th rule goods are listed for the elaboration of final products established in the PROSEC Decree: inputs, materials, parts, components, machinery, equipment, packing and packaging material.
- Companies that have a manufacturer's registration and authorization to import under the 8th rule may import such goods through any of the HTS Codes of heading 98.02 of the tariff of the general import and export taxes (TIGIE), solely and exclusively to expand an industrial plant, replace equipment or integrate an article manufactured or assembled in Mexico.
- Some of the problems that the authority has detected in the use of the 8th rule are as follows:
- There is no control of what is actually imported.
- It does not allow traceability of goods.
- There is no control of compliance with non-tariff regulations and restrictions (NOMs, import notices, estimated prices, etc.).
- No statistics can be generated.
- Permits are requested for different goods from various chapters of the harmonized system, using only one HTS Code.
- Different descriptions are declared at the time of requesting the permit and in the import pediments.
For these reasons, the SE has determined that the importation of “sensitive goods” under the 8th is not applicable because “the regulations impose specific requirements to avoid diluting their control and surveillance during and after customs clearance”.
For more information, contact a KPMG trade and customs professional in Mexico:
Cesar Buenrostro | cbuenrostro@kpmg.com.mx
Omar Chang | ochangcamacho@kpmg.com.mx
Berenice Egure | begure@kpmg.com.mx
Jorge Sanchez | jsanchezperalta@kpmg.com.mx