A central system failure at Mexico’s Tax Administration Service (SAT) temporarily halted operations at all 50 customs offices nationwide on Wednesday, causing lengthy lines at border crossings and delays at seaports.
The disruption occurred during the transition from the Foreign Trade Tax Administration Model to the new Aviso de Cruce system. Issues began around 9:00 a.m. and were resolved roughly 13 hours later, near 10:00 p.m.
The Mexican Foreign Trade Council (Comce) called for the creation of a contingency plan to address potential customs system outages. Javier Cendejas, head of the council’s northeast chapter, warned that such failures trigger a “whiplash effect,” with consequences that intensify the longer disruptions last.
Beyond shipment delays, the outage led to higher storage costs and required additional staffing to maintain round-the-clock customs operations.
Source: Puente Libre
