In the case of our country, the AEO program is authorized and supervised in accordance with the provisions of the General Rules of Foreign Trade (RGCE), by the Customs Authority, that is, the Tax Administration Service. This program arises to address the need to strengthen the security of the supply chain and provide greater legal certainty to companies, carriers and even Customs Agencies, within the framework of foreign trade, through the implementation of internationally recognized minimum-security standards.
However, for the present, we will focus on mentioning the benefits to which companies that operate under the heading of the Authorized Economic Operator are credited, front to the exercise of powers of verification that could exercise the Tax Administration Service.
As we mentioned in the last edition, for companies that obtain authorization from the Ministry of Economy of the promotion program or the Manufacturing Industry (IMMEX), one of the most important aspects and of greater care for companies, is the period of permanence in the national territory, since it is an aspect that can set off the alarms of the Customs Authority, this could lead to the exercise of powers of verification by the Tax Administration Service.
Regarding this point, it is important to mention that within the benefits for AEO companies, established in the RGCE, is the benefit related to the period of permanence, since in accordance with the provisions of rule 7.3.3., temporary imports of these companies can remain in the national territory for up to 36 months.
This is arising from the undertaking which it implies for companies to obtain such authorization, since they must be up to date in the fulfilment of their tax and customs obligations. This benefit is very important, since it allows us to have a wider margin of time to carry out the return, regularization or change of regime of the merchandise; also, being applicable to the operations of virtual transfers, since in rule 4.3.21. fraction I, subsection C, numeral 1, exempts from the period of 6 months those that obtain in the AEO certification.
However, obtaining certification as an Authorized Economic Operator does not exempt companies from the Customs Authority being able to exercise its powers of verification, as an example, we will put the development of a visit domiciliary, for which the authority will raise a physical inventory of the machinery that the company has in the fiscal domicile, Once the above is done, the legal stay in the national territory must be accredited.
We can take as exempt the hypothetical case, in which the identification plate with which said machinery has refers identification data such as brand, model and serial number, which were taken by the authority to carry out the inventory; without seizure or, when making the comparison at the documentary level, it is identified that when processing the petition the individual identification data of the merchandise were not transmitted, in terms of articles 36 and 36-A of the Customs Law, which represents a severe problem.
However, by enrolling in the Authorized Economic Operator program, we may adhere to the benefit set forth in Rule 7.3.3. section I, of the General Rules of Foreign Trade.
This benefit exempts companies from transmitting, both in the import petition and in the commercial invoice, the data referring to the brand, model and serial number, provided that it is proven to the authority that the data of the goods capable of being identified individually are duly registered in the Automated Inventory Control System (Annex 24), with which, in this hypothetical case, the legal stay can be accredited and consequently, the cause of precautionary seizure can be distorted.
The examples mentioned above represent one of the benefits granted to companies by the AEO program, although it is true that it is a robust program and that implies a high level of commitment for companies that choose to be certified, it also entails great benefits; however, at present, we focus only on those that we can stick to in case the Customs Authority exercises its powers of verification.
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