Business and government leaders agree that progress will only be made through the cooperative efforts of the Mexican public and private sectors.

In a recent public statement, the president of Mexico’s national maquiladora association (INDEX), Emilio Cadena Rubio, affirmed that it is a positive and encouraging fact that Mexico’s federal tax authority, known in Spanish as the Secretaria de Hacienda y Crédito Público, and it’s administrative agency, the Servicio de Administración Tributaria, have kept their word to promote an business friendly and constructive environment that is characterized by a close cooperation between the Mexican public and private sectors.

During a November meeting whose purpose was to establish a working group to suggest and make operational improvements to the Mexican Customs Service, the Secretaria de Hacienda y Crédito Público and the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) signed off on a series of collaborative agreements which will serve to bring about better coordination of activities carried out by the Mexican public and private sectors. In addition to INDEX, or the national maquiladora association, among the private organizations signing on to an agreement committing to expanded cooperation with the Mexican government entities were:

CAAAREM, or Mexico’s Confederación de Asociaciones de Agentes Aduanales; the Mexican customs brokers’ national trade association. The organization was founded in 1938, and represents the interests of its membership, which extends throughout the Mexican Republic.

CCE, or the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, which is the national guild that takes the lead in representing the interests of the Mexican private sector. The organization was founded in 1976 as a response to offset the government’s propensity toward intrusive intervention in economic matters during that period.

COMCE, or the Consejo Empresaria Mexicano de Comercio Exterior, Inversion and Technologia. COMCE plays a leading private sector role in the promotion of Mexican exports, the attraction of foreign direct investment and the development of technology.

CONCAMIN is the Confederación de Cámaras Industriales de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The organization is made up of 46 national industry chambers of commerce, 14 regional chambers and a large group of other bodies that represent various Mexican private sector concerns.

COPARMEX, or the Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana. Coparmex consists of 65 business centers, 13 federations and 14 delegations that are located in each of the states of the Mexican Republic. Twenty-seven working groups nationwide are dedicated to the generation and study of important proposals that impact the country’s economic and social development.

CONACO is the acronym for the Consejo Nacional de Comerciantes y Prestadores de Servicios. The Council was founded in 1995 as an organization to represent the interests of Mexico’s merchants and service providers. The group’s leaders contend that micro, small and medium-sized business constitute the backbone of the Mexican economy.

As regards the improvement of Mexico’s National Customs Service, the Mexican public and private sector organizations participating in discussions have agreed that betterments to be pursued be based upon the five following principles:

  • Smart Customs – All parties agree that in order to be efficient and modern, sufficient investment must be made in technologies that expedite international trade.
  • Transparent Customs – All Mexican public and private sector groups that are party to the process of improvement of the nation’s Customs apparatus are of the believe that, in order to function optimally, rules and processes must be well-defined and clearly communicated to all entities and groups that are a party to international trade.
  • Competitive Customs – Fully cognizant of the fact that the country’s foreign trade volumes have grown exponentially over the course of the last twenty years, all parties to discussions are in concordance with the need to define, fund and execute projects that update and expand Mexican Customs’ physical infrastructure.
  • Close Customs – The notion of “close customs’ encompasses the idea that in order to have an optimal flow of information between parties to international trade in the Mexican public and private sectors, Mexican Customs must have communications systems in place that ensure this “proximity.”
  • Global Customs – Mexican Customs must continually strive to identify and implement best practices by viewing those put into place and executed by leading trading nations worldwide.