On February 4, the Decree for the promotion of strategic duty-free areas was published, in addition to the regime for strategic duty-free areas (Decree), by means of which various benefits are established for Mexican strategic duty-free areas in order to promote their creation and operation. Currently, only 12 strategic duty-free areas exist. The Decree came into effect on February 5, 2016, and it establishes the following benefits for taxpayers who obtain authorization to place merchandise in strategic duty-free areas: (i) tax incentives for such taxpayers; (ii) reduced customs duty rates; and (iii) administrative facilitation, including among others, importation by means of any customs office, special time frames for importation of machinery and equipment, correction of the country of origin in customs declarations and preferential rates of importation tax. Finally, the Decree makes the process for designating real property as a strategic duty-free area more flexible.
