Through a new decree published in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF), the Mexican government handed over total control of the operation of 50 customs offices in the country to the Ministries of National Defense (Sedena) and the Navy (Semar).
With this, the changes published in 2021, when the internal regulations of the National Customs Agency (ANAM) were reformed, are without effect, creating a General Directorate of Electronic Processing of Customs Data, which will now be in charge of the military, and which will have the functions of preventing crime and other illegal activities in customs, which were in the hands of the General Directorate of Modernization, Equipment and Customs Infrastructure.
In this way, ANAM’s coordination of nine inland customs offices, the only one of the 50 customs offices throughout the Republic in which it exercised such function, is taken away from ANAM, expanding the powers of the Sedena and the Navy. The Army will coordinate the 21 border customs offices and the 12 inland customs offices operating in Mexico, while the Navy will organize the 17 maritime customs offices in Mexican ports.
With this, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador seeks to prevent and combat illicit practices in foreign trade operations, and for this, the Sedena and Semar shall support the General Directorate of Customs Investigation to create and organize strategies to control the entry and exit of goods into and out of the national territory.
The Sedena and Semar shall:
– Order and practice acts of revision, recognition, and verification of merchandise in transport inside customs.
– It empowers them to participate as Responsible Units in financial vehicles, such as public trusts, which are necessary for the operation of customs. Thus, they may make payments, directly or through third parties, for services or public works contracted by such agencies, which are related to the customs offices they coordinate, including the expenses for their planning, execution, implementation, modernization, and, as the case may be, maintenance.
– They may participate with the Administration and Finance Unit in designing, organizing, and implementing training programs for Customs personnel, except for the Customs Training Center.
– To implement and authorize non-intrusive inspection control technology projects in the customs examination or in the verification of merchandise being transported within the Customs.- Promote values and principles such as love of country, honesty, honesty, transparency, and accountability and strengthen the principles of identity and institutional loyalty in civilian and military personnel working as customs authorities.
