New Boat Inspections In Mexico?

"We were just informed that Customs is going to start a new round of inspections of boats, BINs (Boat Identification Numbers), and Temporary Import Permits (TIPs) of foreign-owned boats," writes Carol Dean. "The folks at Marina Coral here in Ensenada have gone around and photographed all the boats and, if they could find them, their BIN numbers. Here we go again!"

There have been several false alarms of this nature before, but even if this is the real deal, there is no reason for there to be a repeat of the fiasco of 2013-2014, in which 338 foreign-owned boats in eight marinas were impounded by SAT (the Mexican IRS) for a number of months. (Very few of them are still impounded.)

Why shouldn’t there be a repeat of the disaster of 2013-2014? First, because it’s been made clear to all Mexican marinas, and all foreign boat owners who have been paying attention, what the Mexican government wants/needs to see in order to keep track of vessels in their country. Second, because the last time around the AGACE/SAT agents were so ignorant of boats that they had to carry little diagrams showing them which was the bow and which was the stern. Thanks to millions of dollars in terrible publicity, the agents have reportedly received much better training now.

As far as Latitude is concerned, Mexico has as much right to keep track of boats in their country as the U.S. does in the States. Our only objection was with how heavy-handedly and incompetently compliance was checked the last time around.

As long as boat owners have complied with Mexico’s requirements, there shouldn’t be any problem. Indeed, when there were problems last time around, the marinas got in as much trouble as the boat owners. As a result, they should now be making making sure that all of their tenants are in compliance with Mexican law.

The other great thing is that this process allows you to take care of almost all your paperwork in advance of sailing to Mexico, and even allows you to make stops prior to calling at your first Port of Entry.

We’re not sure if it’s a coincidence, but just three days ago Malcolm ‘Neil’ Shroyer of Marina de La Paz sent us the latest version of ‘Visiting Mexico by Private Boat’, a quick guide to entry requirements for private vessels, and their owners and crew, plus a directory of Mexican marinas. As the guide explains, there are four steps you need to take before taking your boat to Mexico.

One of the first things you’ll notice is that the document has been produced by SECTUR, which is the Department of Tourism, and the document states, “This brochure is not an official government document but a brief guide to help you understand and ease the process of entering Mexico by sea and complete the immigration process (Maritime Mexico FMM Process)." Why it can’t be an ‘official document’ is beyond us, because that’s what visiting boat owners really need.

That said, there are several major improvements in this latest ‘Visiting Mexico by Private Boat’ guide. The first is that we can’t find any obvious errors such as appeared in the first version of the guide, which was passed out to foreign boat owners last October. For example, the first version said that only people who were going to fish needed fishing licenses, when in fact everybody needs a license if there is any fishing gear aboard a boat. Also, the new guide includes links to pages that give clear examples of how you are supposed to complete the four necessary steps and fill out the forms. Before, instructions were often opaque if not counterintuitive.

Maybe we’re being naive or overoptimistic, but it looks to us that procedures for sailing to Mexico with all one’s ducks in order have greatly improved in the last 18 months. If anyone finds this not to be true, we’d like to hear about it.