Mexico Chamber of Deputies approves Customs Law reform to combat fuel smuggling

Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a reform to the Customs Law aimed at combating ‘huachicol fiscal’ (tax fuel smuggling). The reform expands the authority’s power to inspect merchandise values and adjust grounds for precautionary seizures. Notably, it reduces the threshold for presumed infractions from 50% to 20% and establishes fines between 50% and 100% of the commercial value of goods when operators fail to provide proper documentation for hydrocarbons and petroleum products.

Opposition lawmakers warned that the changes could criminalize importers, increase logistics costs, and disrupt production chains by allowing seizures regardless of the percentage difference in declared value. The reform follows reports of significant undeclared hydrocarbon imports that resulted in billions of pesos in unpaid taxes.

Separately, investigations have highlighted irregularities in how fuel import permits were granted. Portacelis Gas and Oil, a company linked to Amílcar Olán Aparicio, was authorized to import millions of liters of diesel despite being only 52 days old and lacking a prior import history. The company was later accused by tax authorities of omitting taxes on imported fuel.

In the broader energy sector, data shows a decline in new gas station permits issued by the National Energy Commission (CNE), with August seeing the lowest issuance levels since 2021.