IMMEX and RFE, Explained
IMMEX is the Mexican programme that lets companies import inputs without paying duty and IVA, on the condition that what comes in goes back out. RFE is a related regime built around authorised sites. Both come up constantly in nearshoring conversations, and both are routinely mentioned to sellers who have no use for them.
What IMMEX is for
IMMEX — the programme most people still call maquiladora — exists to support export manufacturing. A company holding an IMMEX authorisation can bring raw materials, components, packaging and certain machinery into Mexico on a temporary basis without paying import duty and IVA up front, provided those goods are processed and then exported within a defined period.
The obligation is the whole point. Temporary imports must be tracked, reconciled and exported on schedule. Goods that stay in Mexico must be regularised and the taxes paid. Companies operate dedicated inventory control systems to manage this, because the reporting is audited and the liability for unreconciled material is real.
What RFE adds
Recinto Fiscalizado Estratégico is a regime that applies to authorised premises inside or adjacent to a customs area. Goods can be introduced, handled, stored, and in many cases processed there under a favourable tax treatment, with the site operator carrying defined obligations.
It is best understood as infrastructure for industrial operations that need to hold and work on foreign goods at scale close to the border. It is not a warehousing product a seller signs up for.
Who actually qualifies
- A Mexican legal entity — this is not available to a foreign company as such
- A real production or qualifying-service operation, not simply buying and reselling
- Inventory control systems capable of tracking temporary imports against exports
- Compliance standing with the tax authority, kept current
- For the IVA and IEPS benefits, a separate certification with its own renewal cycle
- Ongoing reporting, with audit exposure attached to it
Why most sellers do not need this
If you import finished goods and sell them to Mexican consumers, IMMEX does not apply to you. Your goods are not inputs, they are not being transformed, and they are not leaving Mexico again — they are being sold there. The programme's benefit is conditional on export, and a seller selling domestically cannot meet that condition.
This is worth stating clearly because the terms get used loosely in logistics marketing, and sellers occasionally spend months pursuing a structure that was never available to them. If your model is import and sell in Mexico, the relevant work is correct classification, a properly prepared entry, and duty and IVA calculated before you ship.
Where BringGo Ship fits
BringGo Ship does not hold an IMMEX authorisation and does not operate an RFE site. Our Monterrey warehouse is an ordinary commercial facility holding goods that have completed Mexican customs clearance in the normal way.
What we do is the definitive import route for finished goods: classification and landed cost before shipping, consolidation at Laredo, the crossing, clearance filed by the licensed Mexican customs brokers we coordinate with, and cleared stock held in Monterrey for domestic fulfillment. If your operation genuinely needs IMMEX, that is a matter for a Mexican customs attorney and your own Mexican entity — not something a logistics provider can extend to you.
FAQ
No. We do not hold an IMMEX authorisation and do not operate an RFE site. IMMEX is granted to a Mexican company for its own qualifying operation and is not something a logistics provider lends to a customer.