POLITICS

Budget To Splashdown In Congress. On Monday, the legal deadline, the government will submit to Congress its federal budget package -- to be hand-delivered by Finance Minister Agustin Carstens himself. The package will have three components: the General Criteria of Economic Policy (CGPE), the 2009 Federal Revenue bill, and next year's appropriations "project." The latter is considered a project rather than a bill because it does not require approval by the Senate, only the lower-house Chamber of Deputies. Laws, legally, must pass through both houses. The CGPE should be interesting, as it will include... 

ECONOMY 

Mexicans Glummer On Consumption. Though two major consumer confidence surveys showed the US public slightly more optimistic in August than in July, the mood of Mexican shoppers continues to darken. In fact, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Inegi Consumer Confidence Index hit its lowest level since its inception in April 2001, dropping from 89.7 in July to 88.9 in August (2003=100). Takeaway messages... 

BUSINESS

Where's The Beef? The Agriculture Ministry suspended shipments of all meat and processed poultry to the US after the US Department of Agriculture cited "systematic" problems at a number of Mexican processing plants. Last week, Mexican authorities revoked exporting licenses from seven Mexican pork and beef processing plants, drawing a critical response from Mexican producers. As far as the sudden blanket ban...

CORPORATE

Project In The Pipeline. Luxembourg-based Tenaris, a global steelmaker, said its Veracruz subsidiary Tamsa would spend a whopping $1.6 billion to expand capacity at a plant in the Gulf state. Tamsa is Mexico's sole producer of seamless steel tubes for the petroleum industry, and the investment will increase its capacity to...

IN BRIEF

Carstens estimated that violence and a lack of security costs the country around one percent of its GDP (roughly $10 billion) each year in lost sales, jobs and investments. This figure, he said, was culled from ranging studies by non-governmental organizations that indicate security-related expenditures raise business costs by 5 percent to 10 percent.

REPORT

Both foreign firms seeking to introduce new consumer goods into Mexico and domestic companies wishing to import merchandise for retail end-use face daunting hurdles at Mexico’s ports of entry. Foreign companies with international shipping experience in other nations are a bit more likely to stumble into pitfalls, unaware of the nuances of Mexican rules. For example, says Francisco Jaime King Cancino, head of the Confederation of Mexican Customs Brokers Associations (CAAAREM), Mexico requires that an importer must have a business registered in the country (meaning a foreign firm must either incorporate one or solicit a local partner). Importers must be currently subscribed on the National Importers Registry. They also are legally obliged to hire the services of a customs broker, who will ultimately execute the import formalities with Mexican Customs.

In addition, they must ensure that their products comply scrupulously with Official Mexican Standards (NOMs), the rigorous technical specifications issued by the government (for example, by agriculture, environment, or health authorities). The NOMs frequently differ from international standards (the government says it is working toward greater harmonization), and can easily trigger the embargo of a shipment. Once merchandise is seized, long delays and costly storage fees are almost a certainty. Millions of dollars worth of goods are abandoned each year by importers when the costs of resolving a dispute exceed the value of the merchandise in question.