Enhancing Public Availability of Customs Information
In the Islamic Countries
51
Administrative and Consultative Processes to Support Information Availability
Information on proposed changes to regulations and procedures is published before the changes
come into effect. In terms of advance rulings, procedures are in place to issue such rulings that
last for a given length of time. Significant rulings are made publicly available, so that other
traders can plan their transactions accordingly. Similarly, appeals procedures are available in
respect of customs decisions. However, the website does not have examples of classification,
valuation, or origin available beyond what can be gleaned from existing rulings. Together, the
development of these systems in Mexico over recent years supports the impression put forward
above, namely that Mexico is a relatively strong performer in the area of information availability.
This picture of strong performance emerges even more clearly from the UNGS data (see figure
below): Mexico has exactly the same pattern of scores as best practice proxy Singapore. While
there is room for improvement in terms of the establishment of an NTFC, on the other indicators
the UN records Mexico as having fully implemented the relevant measures, which is the same as
for Singapore. In this case, the UN data paint a picture of even stronger performance than the
OECD data.
Figure 29: UNGS data for Mexico, with Singapore for comparison.
Source: UNGS.
Mexico has the first virtual Single Window system in North America, VUCEM. The system brings
together 11 government agencies and 198 formal processes through an administrative
coordination process, and is widely used by the business sector. VUCEM contains all necessary
administrative documents for trade procedures, and allows for electronic filing and interchange.
As such, it is the key source for trade-related information in Mexico. The site is currently only
available in Spanish, which means its capabilities could not be reviewed in detail for this report.
However, it was clear that a considerable amount of information was made available to the
general public, not just to the trade community. This kind of information availability is important
for transparency, even though the primary effect of information in lowering trade costs comes
through improved certainty and predictability, and reduced time and cost, for the trade
community.
0,000
0,500
1,000
1,500
2,000
Information
Availability
Involvement of the
Trade Community
Advance Rulings
Appeal Procedures
Mexico
Singapore