In a world where fluctuations in tariffs and trade tensions between nations can impact the terms and conditions of international trade, being able to optimize costs by claiming duty relief from customs duties or applying for refunds on already paid ones, can significantly improve a company’s competitiveness and strengthen its market presence.

In some geographies, customs authorities allow companies to leverage special procedures providing some financial leeway for import and export processing, enabling cross-border manufacturing processes, and ultimately facilitating global supply chains.

When companies transfer products to special customs procedures, they may be able to reduce or avoid customs duties altogether or at least delay them until the goods in question enter the country or customs union of destination.

In exchange, however, customs authorities demand special diligence. Which is why they require authorizations for each of these customs procedures. In addition, authorities also demand special monitoring of the processes, including mandatory inventory management for these customs procedures.

One of the countries with such a program is Mexico.

Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicios de Exportación (IMMEX) program

Originally introduced as a special government program in 1965 to promote manufacturing investment on the United States-Mexican border, create employment opportunities, improve Mexico’s trade balance and drive technological development, the special customs procedure program in Mexico has continued to expand in usage when the country became a major manufacturing hub for companies looking to locate assembly operations outside the United States but still benefit from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – replaced in 2020 by the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).

A new version of the program was launched in 2006 – the Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicios de Exportación (IMMEX) program, and “allows foreign manufacturers to import raw materials and components into Mexico, tax- and duty-free, under the condition that 100% of all finished goods will be exported out of Mexico within a government-mandated time frame” (North American Production Sharing). As of December 2025, the IMMEX program totalled 6,512 sites (plants and warehouses) and over 3 million jobs, thus making it not only a duty optimization program, but also a compelling operational strategy supporting supply chain resilience in North America. This includes a layer of protection since the USMCA defines a legal trade framework across North America.

As mentioned in the introduction, however, certain obligations must be met to be able to benefit from such a program.

In addition to eligibility criteria, for trade compliance specifically, there are 2 major obligations under IMMEX: Annex 24 and Annex 30. Together, they require organizations to:

• Maintain an automated inventory control tracking temporarily imported goods
• Ensure that goods are exported within the authorized import time frames

If these are not respected, the SAT (Servicio de Administración Tributaria) might require the company to pay applicable taxes, and could also impose fines and penalties that could even compromise a company’s IMMEX certification.

As you may already know, SAP Global Trade Service, edition for HANA supports inventory-managed special customs procedures in the European Union, but also in the United States Free Trade Zones and in China’s processing trade regime. But IMMEX was not yet supported.

Working with Origen Tech, this gap has now been covered and organizations can extend their SAP Global Trade Service solution with Origen Tech’s localization offering for Mexico to optimize import operations, pre-process import declarations, gain access to customs brokers and logistics operators, and enter advance payments and additional expenses in SAP Global Trade Services, with direct integration with the purchasing and accounting system in ERP (S/4 HANA or SAP ECC).

Who is Origen Tech

Founded in 2012, Origen Tech is a US-based SAP Gold Partner with expertise in SAP consulting, products and solution development focused on helping companies with their compliance and localization needs in the United States, Brazil  & Latin America. With headquarters located in Miami, Origen Tech also has presence in the main economies in Latin America.

A long-time partner for SAP Global Trade Services, but also SAP Document Reporting and Compliance, Origen Tech delivers localized country offerings and has built SAP partner extensions using the technology e-documents framework to those countries that are not on the planned SAP roadmap to enable real time e-invoicing and statutory reporting worldwide. This includes IMMEX in Mexico.

Why did SAP decide to partner in this area?

While SAP focuses on delivering core SAP Global Trade Services capabilities globally and full localization for chosen countries, we collaborate with trusted partners to extend the solution and offer customers localized functionalities tailored to their specific regional needs. 

When doing so, we focus on 5 main areas:

• Time to market: so that the offering can be delivered rapidly when customers need it, and provide flexibility when regulators enforce new rules
• Industry-specific: when requirements are global or mandatory for all companies, they will of course be included in the roadmap for the standard product but, for industry or geographic specifics, focused partners are more agile and closer to the need
• Assurance: these extensions must follow SAP’s quality mandates to protect customers and maintain trust
• Teamwork: since these enhancements are the result of a collaboration between 3 parties – the customer at the center, the partner who orchestrates and delivers the innovation, and SAP supporting the partner on technical aspects
• State of the art: these enhancements natively integrate into SAP Global Trade Services since they are built on the same technology

What is the SAP Global Trade Services Mexico localization from Origen Tech?

By implementing Origen Tech's Mexico localization solution, businesses gain the ability to streamline and automate their cross-border supply chain processes using SAP Global Trade Services – enhancing global trade management, reducing costs, mitigating risks, and expediting customs clearance. Hence enabling companies to leverage the IMMEX program allowing for tax-free imports for re-exported products.

Dedicated SAP Global Trade Services add-on features delivered with this localization include:

o   Material classification under Mexico’s Commercial Identification Number (NICO) scheme o   Data stage integration to run analytical reports, and compare official custom forms (pedimentos) against system generated declarations in SAP Global Trade Services, automatically identifying discrepancies o   Total cost of duty imports determination, including planned and unplanned costs o   Facilitated communication with customs brokers, including the electronic file (expediente electrónico)

 Additionally, this localization allows direct integration with the Mexican authorities’ foreign trade receipt system (Ventanilla Única de Comercio Exterior Mexicana, or VUCEM) to obtain the final import documentation.

What benefits can organizations – and their trade compliance department, expect?

If helping companies optimize customs duties by avoiding “worst case” determination and strengthen their market presence by improving their product competitiveness is of course the ultimate benefit, to achieve this objective companies must ensure compliance with the mandatory requirements. In this aspect, this localization helps trade compliance departments:

Manage and apply trade preferences and agreements

Determine eligibility for preferential tariff rates based on trade agreements

Automate calculations of applicable preferences during import/export

Facilitate compliance with trade preference regulations for cost optimization

Interested in learning more?

Then feel free to view the recording of the live co-innovation session between Origen Tech and SAP on the theme SAP Global Trade Services Localisation for Mexico and Brazil delivered at the SAP for Global Trade and Tax Conference organized by TAC Insights in Rome in November 2025.

And, if you are looking for more details on IMMEX and how Origen Tech can extend your SAP Global Trade Service edition for HANA to meet the specific custom requirements, then have a look at the dedicated page: IMMEX program for Mexico