La Silla Rota: 2027 Customs Law Tightens Enforcement; Companies Must Shore Up Their Files

The reform to the Customs Law included in the 2027 Economic Package will tighten enforcement against undervaluation and fuel smuggling (known in Mexico as huachicol fiscal). In this scenario, a company's best defense will be solid files built from the start of each operation, not assembled once the authority is already reviewing them.

"In the new customs environment, the best defense will be a file built from the operation itself, not after the authority arrives," said Baker Tilly Mexico Partner Pedro Canabal Hermida who previously served as Central Administrator of Foreign Trade Planning at the SAT.

In an interview with La Silla Rota, he explained that the strategy must be preventive because filing correct declarations will no longer be enough, and companies will have to be ready to prove why the declared value is correct before the authority.

Progress of the reform

The bill was submitted by the federal Executive on September 8 as part of the economic package. On October 1, the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved it, and a floor vote is expected on October 6 in the lower house.

Fines of up to 100% for fuel smuggling

Among the lawmakers' adjustments, when infractions related to the information, documentation and declarations of importers and exporters involve hydrocarbons and petroleum products the fine will rise from 50% to 100% of the commercial value of the goods.

For Canabal, the increase toughens the penalty, but what will truly matter is the authority's detection capacity going forward.

Undervaluation: a shift in risk management

The Baker Tilly partner noted that fighting undervaluation is compatible with trade facilitation as long as enforcement focuses on high-risk operations and effective mechanisms remain for compliant operators to prove the legitimacy of their values.

In his view, the reform is not just a tightening of rules but a shift in how companies manage customs risk overall. The removal of the 50% threshold for precautionary seizure, the emergence of 20% as a new benchmark, ex officio audit powers and a stronger Value Declaration requirement mean customs valuation must rise to the level of a true corporate compliance process.

What comes next in Congress

"These are the three most significant points, but we will have to see how it moves through the floor and then the Senate," Canabal concluded. He is also a professor of Foreign Trade auditing at Universidad Panamericana.

At Baker Tilly, we help importers and exporters strengthen their files, contractual documentation and customs valuation processes under the new legal framework.

Article originally published in La Silla Rota, by José Manuel Arteaga.