Customs Regulations (Mexico)
Bellow you will find general information from your country’s Customs. Please read these rules and regulations carefully.
Mexico City airport is BSO only - clearance documents will be available the next business day.
All shipments are subject to pre-inspection by the customs house broker.
Additional clearance fees and delays may apply to Special foreign trade incentive programs such as NAFTA, IMMEX and Altex.
Shipments to and from Mexico may incur ancillary charges due to commodity, value, storage or customs validation fees. Customer will absorb the cost of individual pedimentos generated at the customer's request for those shipments eligible to be cleared under an informal customs entry. Shipments that are cleared on an informal customs entry will continue to be processed at no additional pedimento charge.
Duty and Tax Advancement: In the event we advance duties and taxes on any given shipment on behalf of the consignee, the payout will be assessed a surcharge based on a flat rate of percentage of the total amount advanced. For Mexico import shipments the surcharge will be either 2% of the total amount advanced or $50 pesos, whichever is greater. If amount is greater than 250 USD consignee will have to make a deposit. Special foreign trade incentive programs such as NAFTA, IMMEX and Altex are not eligible for normal IP or IP Freight service and therefore individual pedimento cost for such shipments will be charged as Ancillary charges, refer to billing options.
All formal non-doc shipments require consignee to have a Registry Federal Certificate (RFC) number secured by Mexican tax authorities, it must be indicated on the invoice under or next to the consignee's name. Consignee must be registered as an importer in the "Padron Importadores del Servicio de Administracion Tributaria" of the Mexican Government. Shipments valued 1000 USD or over are Formal Entries. As per Customs Regulations informal shipments above 1000 USD to companies are limited to one shipment per importer per month, individuals can clear up to 5000 USD per month.
Due to efforts to prevent Piracy, customs authorities might stop shipments for verification which will delay the clearance procedure. IT IS REQUIRED to present a license from the distributor or letter from the original manufacturer to avoid import delays. Authorities will confiscate all products that they confirmed to be piracy.
If an undervalued shipment is found by customs, the result will be a severe investigation and assessment of correct values. A corrected invoice will be required from the origin, values will be assigned by customs criteria.
Shipments cleared as Diplomatic are duty free but must present the corresponding Diplomatic Seals and must be address from an Embassy to another Embassy. If addressed to a Minister or official dependency, the embassy must send a letter confirming it is a Diplomatic shipment.
Returned shipments (not cleared at destination): Shipments may be assessed and further regulations or permits may apply depending on the commodity.
The Commercial Invoice is required for values over 300 USD and must include: Date and place of expedition, Exporter full Legal name and full legal address (including country), Importer full Legal name and full legal address, detailed merchandise description (no part numbers or codes accepted as description), quantity, unit of measure (piece, set, meters, kilograms), unit value, line value, total value, commodity identification marks and numbers if available (Model, serial number, etc.), break down of any other charges that could affect the declared value for customs, e.g. freight, insurance, etc., INCOTERM acceptable in Spanish, English and French, all other languages require translation into Spanish.
Hard to identify substances such as pastes, liquids, powders, gels, odoriferous substances, scented oils, laboratory reactive agents, caliber standards, chemicals, raw materials, and liquid or medical products such as pills, tablets, granules, must be accompanied by a physical and/or chemical analysis to identify its composition, nature, origin or other necessary characteristics in order to be properly classified. These products can only be cleared via formal entry and must be shipped under Broker Select Option (BSO). The only exception will be if the importer is registered and fully licensed to import these products.
All of the information provided is believed to be accurate and reliable; however, we assume no responsibility for any errors. Further, the information can be changed or updated at any time by Customs. For more detailed information please contact your country's customs officials or visit a website of Customs and Border Protection.
