Mexico Details Upcoming Product Standard Compliance Certificates for Imports Required June 3

Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy recently posted a new webpage with information on its scheme to validate compliance with Mexican product standards at the time of entry, said the Latin American Confederation of Customs Brokers (CLAA) in an April 8 circular. Under regulations issued in October, imports subject to some Mexican standards will be denied entry into Mexico beginning June 3, 2019, if they are not accompanied by a certificate of compliance previously entered into an automated system by the third-party certifier, the circular said.

The certificates of compliance must include the tariff number of the product being imported. For existing certificates, importers must by June 3 tell their third-party certifier to resubmit the certificate with the tariff number now included. That also applies to new certificates, which must be submitted by third-party certifiers already including the tariff number beginning June 3, the CLAA said. The circular includes a list of Mexican standards that will be subject to the new entry certification requirements, as well as the third-party certifiers that provide certifications for each of those standards.

There are some exceptions to the certification requirement at the time of entry, the circular said. Equivalency Agreements apply to a few standards -- NOM-001-SCFI, NOM-016-SCFI and NOM-019-SCFI -- subject to the requirement, though a certificate of equivalence with a tariff number will still be required. The same goes for certifications that a product is covered by a mutual recognition agreement or by certificates of compliance covering its component parts. Like with normal certificates of compliance, the certificates should be submitted by the third-party certifier to the Mexican customs online system.

Special requests may be made for merchandise that is not susceptible to individual certification because it hasn’t yet been integrated into the final product at the time of importation, the CLAA said. Information on the product must be included in the request, and a response is due from the Mexican government within 10 days. Customs clearance may be completed after receiving a favorable response, the CLAA said.

Finally, the regulation establishing the certification requirements includes an annex of potential exemptions. These exemptions now include temporary imports under the IMMEX maquiladora program, imports for consumption under the PROSEC sectoral promotion program and bonded warehouse imports for the automotive industry, the CLAA said. Some prototypes and goods imported for exhibition may also be exempt, the CLAA said.