Borderlands: Mexico to require more documentation for shipments traversing the country

“It tries to bring a little bit more transparency to all the processes by requiring more information from each of the main players and in the transport of goods. I think that that’s one of the key objectives, as well as some tax objectives as well, just generally targeting informality and irregularities in the sector,” Josefina Blanco, legal and compliance lead at Nuvocargo, told FreightWaves.

New York-based Nuvocargo is a digital logistics platform for cross-border trade between the U.S. and Mexico.

It’s expected that on Dec. 1, the SAT will begin trial enforcement without liability of the waybill information, and on Jan. 1, 2022, it will begin full enforcement.

The SAT will require any entities sending goods through Mexico to modify their electronic invoices — known as CFDI in Spanish — with a bill-of-lading (BOL) supplement.

The SAT could fine shippers, carriers or other parties up to $4,500 for not having correct documentation.

Some of the new BOL requirements to be added in the CFDI include:

• Type of transportation (national/international).
• Detailed locations pertaining to origin and destination.
• Travel distance.
• Quantity and description of the goods.
• Vehicle identification number.
• Operator’s name and domicile.
• Vehicle’s owner name.
• Commodity and hazmat codes.
• Packing type.
• Custom tariff code.

All freight traveling by road, rail, air or sea through Mexico of any size and all types of commodities will be required to have the BOL supplement. 

Anaid Chacon, Nuvocargo’s head of product, said one of the forms that parties need to fill out for the waybill supplement has up to about 160 questions.

“If you have to do this for every shipment, 160 questions, it for sure will require more time and more coordination,” Chacon said. “This is a thing that as service providers, we want to figure out how to make this go faster for you.”

Chacon said the supplement applies to any commodity being shipped through Mexico, regardless of whether it is crossing the border.

Chacon also said the supplement requires documentation from all parties involved in the shipment, both shippers and carriers.

“It is an additional layer of verification about how well their operations are run on both sides of the border,” Chacon said. “It actually increases the likelihood that good partners are going to end up matched, because they’re both able to comply with this.”

Chacon said her advice to anyone shipping goods across Mexico or the border should review “their points of risk in terms of understanding what pieces of their supply chain may be affected.”

“Not only the cross border pieces, but also if there are other pieces that they’re relying on that require movements in Mexico,” Chacon said. “And really reach out to their partners, like [Nuvocargo] to figure out how they’re preparing for this to get ahead of this regulation, which is going to start getting enforced in December.”

dexFreight selected by Hutchison Ports Mexico as software provider

Sunrise, Florida-based dexFreight announced it has been selected by Hutchison Ports Mexico (HPM) to utilize its smart contracts and blockchain infrastructure to organize container shipments at HPM’s port terminals in the country.

The program will begin at Mexico’s ports of Veracruz and Lazaro Cardenas, with the potential to expand to additional HPM terminals throughout the country. It will include customs brokers, shippers, and small to midsize trucking companies for the orchestration of both import and export containers to and from the ports.

“Our modular design and deployment in the cloud allows us to easily deploy globally. Mexico is our first stop, but we plan to be working with many other ports in the near future,” Jim Handoush, president and CEO of dexFreight, said in a statement. 

dexFreight, founded in 2018, is a blockchain-based logistics platform that aims to handle everything from booking to payment. 

HPM operates six terminals at four seaports and one inland port in Mexico, serving 20,000 customers. HPM is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports, which operates ports in 26 countries around the world.

Averitt Express expands Texas operations with new facility

Cookeville, Tennessee-based Averitt Express recently completed expansion of its operations in Amarillo, Texas, with the addition of a 25,000-square-foot distribution and fulfillment space.

The facility will be used to provide shippers access to inventory and freight staging space to help streamline delivery and distribution throughout the Texas Panhandle.

Averitt opened a 400,000-square-foot distribution and fulfillment center near Dallas in May. 

“The demand for near-proximity warehousing has grown in parallel with the surge in e-commerce growth over the years,” Wayne Spain, Averitt’s president and COO, said in a statement. “At the same time, numerous supply chain disruptions, including the pandemic and challenges with port congestion, have contributed to a growing desire by many shippers to safeguard inventory needs across key markets.”

Privately held Averitt Express is a freight transportation and logistics services provider. The company operates throughout the southern U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Averitt has 4,600 tractors and 14,900 trailers.

CBP intercepts ‘first-in-nation’ butterfly in pineapple shipment

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Mississippi discovered a first-in-the-nation insect in a shipment originating from Costa Rica.

CBP agriculture specialists made the discovery Sept. 2 at the Port of Gulfport. Agents discovered a butterfly larvae pest, informally known as the Saunders 1850, while inspecting a container of pineapples from Costa Rica. 

Due to the potential impact to U.S. agriculture, the shipment of pineapples, worth $15,000, was destroyed.

“These butterflies, while they may be attractive to the eye, have no place in the Gulf Coast or United States and their introduction could lead to unpredictable results in our ecosystem,” Anthony Acrey, CBP area port director of Mobile, Alabama, said in a statement.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.

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