After just over two years since the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) took control of the flow of goods in and out of the country, the transition has not been entirely smooth. It’s worth noting that in February of this year, a system outage completely paralyzed foreign trade for two days. Although no further incidents have occurred since then, transporters emphasize that such interruptions in trade, especially with the northern neighbor, must not happen again.
As the Vice President of the Northwest Region of the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar), Israel Delgado told T21 that after the learning curve for the military in charge of customs, we should now have an agile and secure customs system to leverage the competitive advantage of being the main trading partner of the United States.
“I believe that customs systems need to be harmonized with the Tax Administration Service (SAT). Remember that the tax authority and ANAM are practically sharing an institution that involves inspections, controls, systems, and legal matters. Harmonizing the SAT system with ANAM, or alternatively, separating them for practical operational purposes, is one of the major issues that need to be addressed,” Delgado asserted.
In Delgado’s opinion, the civilian staff who worked at customs before the military took over had extensive knowledge and experience with the procedures. It’s also important to highlight that ANAM lacks a contingency plan for any eventuality, something that the previous General Customs Administration (AGA) had.
“This should be one of the major customs issues, both at ports and land customs, having an urgent need for a backup plan when technology fails. Although technology was designed to avoid deficiencies, we know that system outages can occur due to external factors, which puts us on alert to ensure that trade does not come to a standstill,” detailed the Vice President of the Northwest Region of Canacar.
Despite the challenges experienced, the importance of customs is undeniable, with responsibilities not only in revenue collection but also in national security. Their goal is to control what enters and exits the country.
Another major problem at customs is the flow of illegal immigrants seeking to reach the United States, which has sometimes paralyzed trade, as happened in Texas. “This geopolitical phenomenon, which is unrelated to customs, affects foreign trade. Additionally, the customs authority is responsible for ensuring the safety of vehicles and operators and detecting any crossing of illicit substances,” stated the transporters’ representative.
Despite the complexities, Delgado assured that progress has been made, as they have gone more than three months without issues. “Currently, the Tijuana customs office is working very well. Today, we have a head who is involved in operations and issues, which speeds up processes. I believe this is what is needed in all customs offices, that the heads get involved to empathize with users’ problems, allowing trade to flow efficiently and safely,” he said.
The latest statistics indicate that there is an average of seven million commercial crossings between Mexico and the United States, with Tijuana alone averaging eight thousand daily import and export operations. This dynamism places Tijuana’s customs as the second most important in the country.
