The Mexican government has published three decrees to unilaterally eliminate import tariffs on products with the objective of lowering inflation.

Most recently, on January 6, 2022, the government published in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) the «Decree exempting from the payment of import duties and granting administrative facilities to various articles of the basic food basket and basic consumption of families».

This is an extension of the Decree published on October 19, 2022.

The purpose is to establish that the goods that are imported into Mexico, goods identified in the tariff fractions of the Tariff of the General Import and Export Tax Law, will be assigned to the definitive import customs regime by an «Importing Company of Products of the Basic Food Basket» and are exempted from facing import duties.

These goods are identified in the tariff fractions of the Tariff of the Law of General Import and Export Taxes -published in the DOF on July 1, 2020- and its subsequent amendments.

Decrees

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the key points of this new decree are:

The Decree integrates the two previous decrees: the «Decree exempting from the payment of import duties and granting administrative facilities to various items of the basic food basket and inputs indicated» and the «Decree exempting from the payment of import duties the goods indicated», published in the DOF on October 19 and November 18, 2022, respectively.

This Decree does not repeal the previous Decree that exempts the merchandise published on May 16, 2022 from the payment of import duties. This decree remains in effect as of May 17, 2023.

In this new Decree the tariff items are expanded to include products such as fresh and frozen turkey and inputs for animal feed.

Imports

Other items included in the Decree are personal hygiene items and agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides.

The Tax Administration System (SAT), an agency of the Ministry of Finance, oversees the granting of the Single Universal License (LUU) and the mechanism to obtain it.

The only change described is that the products that may be included in the importers’ applications are those that have been imported in the last 24 months (in the previous decree it was 12 months). This decree is effective until December 31, 2023.

It indicates that any company registered in the List of Importers of the Basic Basket with the Decree published in October 2022 or with the present Decree (January 2023) that proves to have negotiated a contract for the acquisition of the goods referred to in Articles 1 and 2, may extend its validity until April 30, 2024.