Legal Aspects in International Trade

[pic 3]

In Mexico, there is a diverse normativity related to international trade operations prior to export or import. In order of importance, you will read a brief summary about what you need to know from a legal perspective. The main law that governs the international trade in Mexico is the Mexican Constitution (Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos). For instance, the 131 act establishes that the federal government has the capacity to tax any imported, exported or transited merchandise through the territory. Also it mentions that the Executive Power can have the authority given by the Congress to increase, decrease or suprime the import or export trade tariffs or even create new ones; as well as to prohibit the import, export and transit of products, devices or merchandise when necessary in order to control the international trade, the local economy, the domestic production estability or any other purpose which beneficiates the country. Other Constitutional acts related are:

Act 73, XXIX, number 1: “Authority to the Congress to establish taxation in international Trade”.

Act 76, I: “Authority to the Senate to analyse the foreign policy based on the annual reports given by the President  and the corresponding Secretariat; Additionally, the approval of the International Trade Agreements and any diplomatic convention”.

Act 89, X: “Manage the foreign policy and perform the international treaties submited to the Senate”; and XIII: “Enable all sort of ports, create maritime and transborder customs and define their location”.

Act 133: “The constitution, the laws of the Congress emanating from it and all the international agreements performed by the President and approved by the Senate will be the Supreme law all over the Union”. Meaning that the Supremacy of the Constitution is over all treats and agreements formalized by the Mexican Government.

Based on the Act 131 emerges the “International Trade Law and its regulation” (Ley de Comercio Exterior).

International Trade Law

Officially published in the Diary (Diario Oficial de la Federación, DOF) on July 27th, 1993 with the latest update on December 21st, 2006. This Law has as main objectives:

1. Regulate and promote the International Trade.
2. Increase the mexican economy competitivity.
3. Propitiate the efficient usage of resources of the country.
4. Integrate the mexican economy to the international one.
5. Contribute to the society welfare.

The International Trade Law in the 1A Annex, named “Multilateral agreements in the commercialization of merchandise”  from the WTO (World Trade Organization), establishes the following agreements:

1. Sanitary and phytosanitary actions.
2. Trade barriers.
3. Trade Tariffs.
4. Norms of origin.

Non-tariff regulations and restrictions

There are tariff and non-tariff regulations and restrictions. Remember that a open policy in internatioional trade under a Free Trade Agreement the tariff barriers tend to disappear. Then, most countries establish non-tariff regulations and restrictions as ways to restrict the exit or entrance in the customs of merchandise which can affect an industry, the quality or features of the goods, the employment, national security, human-being, animal or wildlife health or the ecological equilibrium among others. In the act 17 of this Law, says that the Economy Ministry will issue the non-tariff restrictions for both import or exports as:

1. The prior permisions (Document issued by the Economy Ministry which allows the entrance or exit of merchandise from and/or to the National territory.
2. Maximum quota (The amount of a certain good that can be exported or imported).
3. Country of Origin (Indicating where the goods come from).
4. Certifications.
5. Antidumping (faithless trade practices)
6. Permissions.
7. Labeling regulations
8. Quality norms
9. Among others.

To carry out successfully these non-tariff restrictions, the Federal Public Administration has idefined the following Ministries to issue restrictions:

1. Ministry of Energy
2. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
3. Ministry of Health
4. Ministry of National Defense
5. Ministry of Agriculture, fishing, breeding and Rural Development
6. Ministry of Education

[pic 4]

The people subjected to this law (Ley Aduanera) are:

1. Those who introduce or take out merchandise into the country.
2. Anybody who participates in the introduction, extraction, custody, storage and management of goods.
3. Those who participate in the customs dispatch and the facts derivating from these ones.

There are more than 80 customs offices in Mexico and each of them request for specific set of documents depending whether you are importing or exporting:

IMPORTS

1. Commercial Invoice.
2. Document of Transport
3. Documents supporting the non-tariff restrictions & regulations.
4. Certificate of origin
5. Guarantees of import prices
6. [pic 5]Certificate of weight or volume

EXPORTS

1. Commercial Invoice
2. Any documents which support the fulfillment of non-tariff restrictions and regulations.

BROKER (CUSTOMS AGENT) DESIGNATION

Mostly, the customs agent is the responsible of several activities during the international trade operation. The Customs Law highlights in the act 54 the responsabilities of the agent:

...