In yet another version of the old Trojan Horse trick, Mexican drug gangs are trying to bring contraband into the United States by slipping it into U.S.- and Canada- bound export shipments of Mexican businesses, according to a Reuters report.  Businesses targeted by the gangs include maquiladoras and other high volume exporters.

The report said that in May 2008, Mexican army troops searching a subsidiary of Sharp Corp. just south of Tijuana (in Rosarito) found approximately 1.5 tonnes of marijuana concealed in a Canada-bound truck behind boxes carrying television screens.  Carlos Castro, head of Mexico’s national council of maquiladora plants, said in the report there had been at least two other recent cases where gangs sought to penetrate legitimate export shipments with contraband. 

Businesses have responded by increasing expenditures on security cameras, guards, and other security measures.  They should also carefully screen and vet personnel with reputable investigation/due diligence services and only use legitimate outsourcing companies as sources of employees.

The Mexico Foreign Policy Blog wrote a nice piece on July 29, 2008 entitled “How the Collapse of WTO Talks Affects Mexico“, stating that in the wake of the failed World Trade Organization (WTO) talks, Mexico must fall back on “its existing plethora of free trade agreements”.  Mexico, the article noted, has more free trade agreements than any country in the world.  Those agreements are as follows:

• North American Free Trade Agreement (1994)
• G3 Free Trade Agreement (between Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico) (1995)
• Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (1995)
• Nicaragua Free Trade Agreement (1998)
• Chile Free Trade Agreement (1999)
• EU Free Trade Agreement (2000)
• Israel Free Trade Agreement (2000)
• TN Free Trade Agreement (between Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) (2001)
• AELC Free Trade Agreement (between Mexico, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland) (2001)
• Uruguay Free Trade Agreement (2004)
• Japan Free Trade Agreement (2005), and
• Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (ratification pending). 

A more detailed listing of Mexico’s free trade agreements and copies of their texts are set forth on the Organization of American States’ Foreign Trade Information System website. 

There are several ways in which importers and exporters of goods to and from Mexico can structure their international operations to benefit from Mexico’s free trade agreements, as well its various export incentive programs, such as IMMEX (formerly known as the Maquiladora and PITEX programs) and PROSEC (Programa de Promocion Sectorial).  My colleague Doug Jacobson, an accomplished international trade attorney, and I have advised clients on how to establish such structures in connection with our Mexican counsel.  Doug is also the author of International Trade Law News, a web-based compilation of news and information on export controls, customs, antidumping and other international trade matters. 

WTO negotiations are not expected to resume until 2009.