The Customs Trust, which is managed by the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) and the Secretary of the Navy (Semar), received 6,139 million pesos in the first three months of 2023, according to the Report on the Economic Situation, the Public Finance and Public Debt of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).
The foregoing is the result of the treasury obtaining 6,673 million pesos between January and March, through payments made by importers and exporters for the Customs Processing Law (DTA).
In this sense, the SHCP explained, as of January of this year, 92% of the resources allocated to the trust were integrated into the DTA amount to thus report 100% of that concept. In previous years, the Treasury report only included 8% of the remainder that was not included in the trust.
Juvenal Lobato Díaz, professor of tax law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), explained to this space that the foregoing is the result of the agreement that, at the time, was signed by the Tax Administration Service (SAT), as the body in charge of customs, and the trust operator.
Due to not having the capacity and infrastructure, the Mexican government contracted a third party to manage the resources of the Customs Trust. The trust has been evolving and based on the terms of the transitory provisions that created the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) it is now managed by the Army and therefore that money is for them, said the professor.
In the sixth transitory article, of the decree by which the ANAM Internal Regulation is issued, it is specified that in order to expedite the organization and collaboration between the aforementioned federal authorities, Sedena and Semar may establish public trusts without structure, which will serve as financial vehicles to receive and manage the resources derived from the DTA payment.
At the end of March, the also named Trust for considerations of article 16 of the Customs Law had a balance of 11,992 million pesos. This meant an annual contraction of 75.7% in real terms, according to official information.
Regarding 8% that is not destined to the Customs Trust, the SHCP recorded 534 million in the first three months of last year. This represented an annual contraction of 3.7% in real terms.
Most of the goods that enter or leave the country pay between 390 and 410 pesos of the Customs Processing Fee. In addition to other progressive installments according to the value of the product.
In 2022 they reported decreases in the trust
México Evalúa reported that in the third quarter of 2022, the balance of the trust totaled 16,776 million pesos, which was 81% less than what was reported in the second quarter of that year.
Last year, through the leaks of Guacamaya Leaks, it was revealed that the resources that were withdrawn from the Customs Trust were used to spend on priority government works.
113,000 million pesos were allocated to the Sedena – which now also controls some of the country’s customs offices – in order to cover the costs of works such as the Tehuantepec Isthmus Corridor, the Mayan Train, the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, for the known as the Guaymas Project, as well as works on the northern border.
