The changes adjust the requirements to be met in order to obtain a prior permit for the export of iron ore, establishing objective elements to determine the maximum volume to be recorded in the permit, so that it is directly related to the mineral extracted.
The Mexican government on Tuesday issued an agreement tightening rules for verifying the origin of iron ore exports, as part of its cooperation with the United States to strengthen the North American steel industry.
Specifically, the rules were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) and relate to the granting by the Ministry of Economy of prior permits to be able to export that merchandise.
The changes adjust the requirements to be met in order to obtain a prior permit for the export of iron ore, establishing objective elements to determine the maximum volume to be recorded in the permit, so that it is directly related to the mineral extracted.
This must be derived from the content of the “Certificate of Mineral Reserves” and the “Statistical Reports on the Production and Beneficiation and Destination of Minerals or Concessible Substances”.
The objective is for it to be equivalent to the amount resulting from adding the tons of iron ore found in the storage yard and the tons corresponding to the operating capacity of the concessionaire.
A free document specifying probable iron ore reserves is also replaced by a new Iron Ore Reserves Certificate issued by the Mexican Geological Service (SGM).
Another requirement is that companies must attach to the permit application a copy of the analysis of the chemical characterization and the certificate of origin of the iron ore, issued by the SGM, which shows that this mineral comes from the mining concessions referred to in the authorization application.
In addition, a specification will be introduced that the sum of the volumes of permits granted during the same calendar year may not exceed 300,000 tonnes.
The new agreement will enter into force 30 business days after its publication in the DOF, except for some provisions whose validity will begin on January 1, 2025.
As background, on February 27, 2024, officials from the Mexican Ministry of Economy and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) discussed cooperation between both nations in the trade of steel products in order to strengthen the steel industry in the region.
Consequently, it was agreed to strengthen the control of imports of steel and aluminum products, for which it is relevant that, among other actions, Mexico incorporates as part of the requirements for the authorization of automatic import notices for steel products, the Mill and Quality Certificates, according to the type of merchandise in question, which contain information on the country where the steel is smelted and cast.
Thus, in order to strengthen the monitoring of automatic import notices for certain steel products, the documentation and information requirements necessary to submit the corresponding applications were updated.
Last July, the Presidents of Mexico and the United States agreed on a set of measures to prevent unfair imports of steel and aluminum from China, Belarus, Iran or Russia into their countries.
