Hacienda puts obstacles to maquilas

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.- The New Certified Company Scheme, Nuevo Esquema de Empresa Certificada (NEEC), set by the Federal Government, puts at risk the main economic pillar in this region, because it will be harder for maquiladoras to use the cargo express line and have access to the fiscal benefits granted to companies, some specialists pointed-out. “They are leaving us a hot potato”, Oscar Kuri Armendriz, Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Commission for Free Trade, Comision Empresarial Pro Libre Comercio (CELC), said referring to the current Administration soon to end and which will not have time to even complete maquiladora companies certifications. He said that by setting the bar higher on the requirements to achieve this certification, competitiveness in the region is lost, because many companies which depend on Just In Time will have to open their accounts to Hacienda to obtain it, and even for little details they could lose access to fast border crossing line and fiscal benefits. He said that the local economy is sustained on industry and that there should be balance between the industry’s needs and the requirements set by the Government to operate, because otherwise companies will leave and new companies will stop arriving.