New changes to the Rules and Criteria of Foreign Trade in Mexico: PROSEC – Sectorial Promotion Program

On 03 June 2019, a decree, which as been issued by the Ministry of Economy (Secretaría de Economía - SE) in October 2018, entered into force and affected various import procedures (we informed about it on the GPQI-Website).

Recently, the Ministry of Economy (SE) has published a preliminary draft of some further modifications to the rules and criteria of foreign trade. The draft states among other changes that the Sectorial Promotion Program (PROSEC) would be cancelled. PROSEC is an instrument for producing companies that allows them to import with preferential ad-valorem tariffs (General Import Tax), to be used in the manufacture of specific products, regardless of whether the goods to be produced are intended for export or the domestic market.

to this day, PROSEC allows participating companies to import without proving compliance with the Mexican Technical Regulations (NOM) at the point of entry into the country, as long as they are intended to fulfil a productive process. As a measure for ensuring compliance with technical regulations, the elimination of this exception has been considered.

So far there is no appointed date for entry into force of this new decree, however it is stated that this will take place immediately the day after the decree is published.

If you have further questions regarding this topic, please contact GPQI Mexico (lilia.dediego@giz.de)