The National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) obtained greater budgetary freedom on Wednesday regarding acquisitions, leases, and services of the public sector, as well as public works and related services.
The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) announced this provision through the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), with the Agreement by which powers are delegated to the head of the National Customs Agency of Mexico.
The SHCP indicated in the document that this agreement aims to “ensure the best organization of administrative work, streamline the operation and processing of matters within the competence of both the ministry and ANAM.”
In this regard, it was stated that the following powers in acquisitions, leases, and services will be delegated:
- Issuing and, where appropriate, modifying the policies, bases, and guidelines referred to in the penultimate paragraph of Article 1 of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing, and Services Law, in relation to Article 3 of its Regulation.
- Establishing the Acquisitions, Leases, and Services Committee of ANAM.
- Authorizing the opinion of suitability for the conclusion of contracts abroad for goods, leases, or services to be used outside the national territory, in terms of the last paragraph of Article 16 of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing, and Services Law, in relation to Article 12 of its Regulation.
- Rendering an opinion, in terms of Article 22, Section II of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing, and Services Law, prior to the initiation of the procedure, on the appropriateness of the exception to public bidding due to falling within any of the cases referred to in fractions I, III, VIII, IX second paragraph, X, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, and XIX of Article 41 of the aforementioned Law.
- Contracting equipment required in scientific research and technological development projects, referred to in Article 41, Section XVII of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing, and Services Law.
- Establishing the bases, form, and percentages to which the guarantees to be constituted must be subject, in accordance with Article 48 of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing, and Services Law.
As for public works and related services, the SHCP delegated the following:
- Issuing and, where appropriate, modifying the policies, bases, and guidelines in terms of the penultimate paragraph of Article 1 of the Public Works and Related Services Law, in relation to Article 9 of its Regulation.
- Creating the Public Works Committee, in accordance with the provisions of Article 25, second paragraph of the Public Works and Related Services Law, 25 and 26 of its Regulation.
- Authorizing the opinion of suitability for the conclusion of contracts abroad for public works or related services to be performed or provided outside the national territory, in terms of the last paragraph of Article 16 of the Public Works and Related Services Law, in relation to Article 13 of its Regulation;
- Rendering an opinion, in terms of Article 25, Section III of the Public Works and Related Services Law, in relation to Article 74 of its Regulation, prior to the initiation of the procedure, on the appropriateness of the exception to public bidding due to falling within any of the cases referred to in Article 42 of the aforementioned Law.
- Setting, in exceptional cases, a percentage greater than thirty percent of the authorized budget, for contracting public works and related services, in terms of the penultimate and last paragraph of Article 43 of the Public Works and Related Services Law.
- Establishing the bases, form, and percentages to which the guarantees to be constituted must be subject, in accordance with Article 48 of the Public Works and Related Services Law.
- Authorizing the percentage of advance agreed upon in terms of Article 50, Section IV, of the Public Works and Related Services Law, to be higher.
- Designating public servants who may order the suspension of contracted works and determining, where appropriate, the duration thereof, which may not be indefinite, in terms of Article 60 of the Public Works and Related Services Law.
Likewise, it was stated that these powers must be exercised under the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing, and Services Law, the Public Works and Related Services Law, the corresponding regulations, and other applicable legal provisions.
In this regard, the head of ANAM, André Georges Foullon van Lissum, will be responsible for ensuring that the criteria promoting the modernization and administrative development of the agency are observed in the exercise of these actions.
ANAM is a decentralized administrative body of the SHCP recently created, which stems from its independence from the Tax Administration Service (SAT), and which began operations in January 2022.
This customs office in Mexico is managed by elements of the Mexican Army and Navy, following the decision of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to transfer this public function to the armed forces, which has caused a series of setbacks in the day-to-day operations of customs in the country, according to specialists in transportation and foreign trade.
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