NEW MONTHLY REPORT FEATURES!

Mexico Watch has listened! In response to requests for more data volume, we've added THREE new features to our MONTHLY REPORT! And we've done so at no additional cost for subscribers!

MARKET SNAPSHOT
In addition to our monthly reporting on a chosen industry or business issue, Mexico Watch now publishes each month a detailed study of imports of a selected Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter, with a description of leading headings and separate import data for each, an analysis of trade flows for the past decade, and a look at which countries are supplying Mexico with merchandise within the featured chapter. The Market Snapshot also extracts one specific product at the 8- or 10-digit classification level as a sample of import opportunities, with analysis, import restrictions, and tariff rates by trading partner.

AUTOMOTIVE
In addition to our annual two-month blockbuster report on the industry, Mexico Watch now publishes each month the most recent stats on production (domestic and export-bound), exports, and domestic sales (domestics and imports). All the numbers are broken down by automaker and by car/light trucks, and include both volume and annual growth variation calculations.

SDDS REPORT
In addition to our full-page Mexico Watch Index of industry, trade, monetary and market data, we now publish Mexico's Special Data Dissemination (SDDS) monthly submission to the International Monetary Fund. The SDDS lists 18 data categories that provide coverage for the four sectors of the economy with an emphasis on timely and comprehensive statistics.

These three new features have been added free of charge to enhance our value proposition for all subscribers. They come on top of our well-established reporting on:

THE ECONOMY
With insightful and diligent analysis of government and private-sector data combined with an on-the-ground canvass of the resident population, Mexico Watch has been providing sharp, clear, and forward-looking analysis of the Mexican economy since 1994. Our Quarterly Economic Forecasts have won accolades for consistently outperforming the mainstream analyst pack.

POLITICS
Rather than miring our readers down in arcane debates and insider muckracking, we've learned over the years how to take the long view and paint the big picture while maintaining a focus on political risk reporting. Our institutional focus and deep understanding of the legislative process are the two unique factors that separate us from the pack and keep us several steps ahead of the Mexican and foreign press.

BUSINESS
Every month Mexico Watch seizes on a new theme or industry that shed light on the Mexican business environment. Whether it means distilling voluminous country competition reports into a two-three page digest, carefully dissecting a specific industry with an eye toward future trends, profiling the Mexican consumer, or crunching new regulatory changes, our business features are designed to offer something for everyone. Always packed with as much relevant data as possible.

BRIEFS
Our catch-all In Brief section picks up on news that may not fit within one of the prior three categories, or fell outside of the focus of the category for the month's report. As a new, special, value-added service, Mexico Watch has begun to include Web links within as many briefs as possible so that readers may follow up on the report or download related information.

CORPORATE NEWS
The global financial news agencies and the world's leading newspapers have deployed hundreds of foreign correspondents in Mexico -- yet reporting on multinational news is almost non-existent. Why? These correspondents are tasked with focusing on companies that trade on the Mexican Stock Exchange. So while they crank out story upon story (or screen upon screen, in the lingo) of news stories about Mexican business, many important and most medium-significance stories of foreign business transactions go untold. Mexico Watch scours numerous news sources as well as local information networks to bring a two-page monthly summary of multinational business news -- investments, mergers & acquisitions, expansions, closures -- with each and every issue.

BUSINESS MOVES
A two-page bird's eye scan of the business environment. News that could have fit into any of the above categories, but didn't quite merit taking up valuable Mexico Watch space. Plus in this section readers enjoy a half page of densely compiled executive moves, to keep track of who is going where and when.

MEXICO WATCH INDEX
Our proprietary data sheet covering GDP, industry, trade, reserves, monetary aggregates, markets, and more. In the MW Index readers have access to two-year forecasts for GDP, the peso, interest rates and inflation from the government, a consensus survey, and our own in-house analysis.

CUSTOMS CONSULTING SERVICE

Both foreign firms seeking to introduce new consumer goods into Mexico and domestic companies wishing to import merchandise for retail end-use face daunting hurdles at Mexico’s ports of entry. Foreign companies with international shipping experience in other nations are a bit more likely to stumble into pitfalls, unaware of the nuances of Mexican rules. For example, says Francisco Jaime King Cancino, head of the Confederation of Mexican Customs Brokers Associations (CAAAREM), Mexico requires that an importer must have a business registered in the country (meaning a foreign firm must either incorporate one or solicit a local partner). Importers must be currently subscribed on the National Importers Registry. They also are legally obliged to hire the services of a customs broker, who will ultimately execute the import formalities with Mexican Customs.

In addition, they must ensure that their products comply scrupulously with Official Mexican Standards (NOMs), the rigorous technical specifications issued by the government (for example, by agriculture, environment, or health authorities). The NOMs frequently differ from international standards (the government says it is working toward greater harmonization), and can easily trigger the embargo of a shipment. Once merchandise is seized, long delays and costly storage fees are almost a certainty. Millions of dollars worth of goods are abandoned each year by importers when the costs of resolving a dispute exceed the value of the merchandise in question.