Horacio Duarte was proposed by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, as the next head of the General Administration of Customs (AGA), replacing Ricardo Ahued.

The AGA, a dependency of the Tax Administration Service (SAT), is the entity in charge, among other things, of facilitating and controlling the entry and exit of merchandise from Mexican territory, as well as collecting tariffs and other trade rights.

Duarte must be ratified by the Senate of the Republic.

Ahued will leave his post this April 30 to rejoin the group of senators from Morena.

«Horacio Duarte, also a man of integrity, honest, of all our confidence. It is going to take over customs, because there we need to face corruption, which is the main problem.

«We are going to support Horacio Duarte throughout the government to clear customs, and I get tired of that we are going to do it,» López Obrador said at his morning conference at the National Palace.

The operation of customs procedures is based on a computerized customs management system (SAAI). This system allows the electronic exchange of information between the AGA, the 49 customs ports of Mexico, customs agents, warehouses and banking institutions authorized to collect duties related to foreign trade.

Horacio Duarte

Until now, the proposed candidate to head the AGA remains as undersecretary of employment.

HDuarte, 48, has a degree in Law (UNAM) and a Master in Study and Prevention of Gender Violence from the University of Salamanca, Spain.

He has been Morena’s representative at the National Electoral Institute, federal deputy, Texcoco mayor and local deputy in the state of Mexico, among other public positions.