In December 1995, the current Mexican Tariff was published in Mexico's Federal Official Diary and as of December 2000, has been modified 20 times. The modifications in the tariff include additions and deletions of statistical breakouts, changes in the text of the existing statistical breakouts and modifications to the duties covered by the statistical breakouts. Mexican Customs requires not only that goods imported into or exported from Mexico be classified in accordance with the tariff, but also that they comply with other government regulations. Since the tariff classification determines the applicable duties on imports and exports, it is one of the most important compliance issues for Mexican Customs. Incorrect tariff classifications can result in increased duties and penalties as well as raise admissibility issues. While the responsibility for accurate tariff classifications in Mexico is placed upon the Customs Broker, our services are intended for companies that:

1. Have had entry discrepancies due to:
1. Mexican Customs applying different classifications.
2. The Mexican Broker applying a different classification as used in the US.
2. Have been visited by Mexican Customs Authorities to conduct a country of origin verification.
3. Need to improve their compliance level in PITEX and Maquiladora programs.
4. Need to know which of their products qualify under particular Sectoral Promotional Programs.
5. Need to increase their utilization of NAFTA benefits or those of any other Free Trade Agreement with Mexico that may be affected by differing classification criteria amongst countries.
6. Need to ensure that their Customs broker is using the correct classifications due to the limited time that exists to perform a complete classification analysis at time of entry of the merchandise into Mexico.
7. Deal with complex products that could easily be misidentified and consequently misclassified, causing high penalties.
8. Wish to conduct a market analysis in Mexico in order to determine duty costs.
9. Need to know with sufficient time prior to shipment and entry into Mexico, what import requirements apply to their products.

Tradewin^® can provide expert classification review of imported and exported goods. Our talented staff includes former National Import Specialists and Senior Import Specialists from Mexican Customs (Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico), as well as experts in tariff classification from the private sector. Working with your company's product experts, Tradewin^® will determine the function, form and composition of the product. Using tariff classification principles, we will determine the proper Harmonized Tariff code. For complex issues, Tradewin^® will assist your company in obtaining binding rulings from the Mexican Customs Service as needed. Tradewin^® can also assist you in determining preferential duty rates that, in combination with the Harmonized Tariff classification, may apply to your products under the NAFTA free trade agreement or under similar agreements with the European Union, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Israel, Honduras, Guatemala or El Salvador.

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