The United States Trade Representation (USTR) highlighted some of the customs barriers and trade facilitation-related barriers in Mexico.
In their view, Mexico continues to provide insufficient advance notice of procedural changes, inconsistent interpretation of regulatory requirements at different border posts, and uneven border enforcement of Mexican standards and labeling rules.
These customs barriers were included in the Barriers to Foreign Trade 2024 report released by USTR.
In addition, USTR stated that some goods still cannot be imported into Mexico at all ports of entry.
In USTR’s opinion, restricting goods to certain ports has made it difficult for U.S. exporters to arrange transportation and logistics, especially for e-commerce purchases from U.S. small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exporters.
The Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA) prohibits arbitrary limits on the number of ports in which a customs broker may operate.
However, Article 161 of Mexico’s Customs Law limits an agent to operating in four ports if the agent is not part of a customs agency.
Customs Barriers
The United States continues to urge Mexico to amend the law to allow brokers to operate at any port where the broker can perform its functions.
Also, the USMCA requires Mexico to implement a periodic payment option for express delivery shipments, which Mexico had not done until December 2023.
Waybill
On January 1, 2022, Mexico imposed a new requirement for an «add-on» to the existing electronic waybill requirement in transportation. services. Any shipment transported within Mexico on federal highways must be accompanied by an electronic waybill «complement» containing up to 140 data elements about the shipment.
On December 31, 2023, Mexico began enforcing the requirement.
The United States continues to monitor Mexico’s implementation of this requirement.
USTR is a U.S. government agency charged with advising the President on foreign trade policy and negotiating trade agreements on behalf of the United States.