September 19, 2012

Mexico's egg imports to be excluded from tariffs

Mexico's Secretariat of Economy (SE) has announced changes to applied duties on egg imports for human consumption and industrial purposes.

Effective as of September 14, 2012, eggs from the harmonised tariff system (HTS) codes listed below are tax exempt.

According to SE, the June 21, 2012, H7N3 subtype A avian influenza outbreak in the state of Jalisco has drastically reduced domestic egg production.

Consequently, the market has witnessed increased prices, greater volatility, and unjustified speculation. SE reports that this measure received the approval of the Foreign Trade Commission.

The SE announcement states that starting September 14, 2012, egg imports (for human consumption, dry, frozen or in powder) from any country will be exempt from import tariffs.

Prior to this announcement, applied duties ranged from 45% for HTS 0407.21.01 to 20% for other HTS code items.

The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in Mexico has said that this announcement does not imply any change to the US' pre-existing tariff-free access, but could result in increased price competitiveness.

However, the import of eggs from distant countries is likely to be carefully scrutinised as zoo-sanitary requirements, transportation costs and times, etc. may prevent access for other potential trading partners.