Maquiladora Contract Mexico (Contrato de Maquila IMMEX)

A Maquiladora Contract Mexico (Contrato de Maquila IMMEX) is a commercial manufacturing services agreement between a foreign principal (empresa principal extranjera or contratante) and a Mexican IMMEX Programme operator (empresa IMMEX or maquiladora) by which the Mexican operator performs manufacturing, assembly, transformation, or service operations on materials and components supplied by or on behalf of the foreign principal, in exchange for a maquila fee (cargo de maquila or toll manufacturing fee), subject to the regulatory framework of the Decreto que Establece el Programa de la Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicios de Exportación (Decreto IMMEX, DOF 1 November 2006 as amended) and the Ley Aduanera Articles 108 through 115 governing the temporary import customs regime.

The Decreto IMMEX Article 2 defines the IMMEX Programme as the instrument through which the Mexican federal government authorises companies to carry out manufacturing, transformation, or service processes on temporarily imported goods — raw materials (materias primas), components (componentes), machinery (maquinaria), equipment (equipo), containers (embalajes), and tooling (herramental) — destined for export in the form of finished goods. The IMMEX Programme is administered jointly by the Secretaría de Economía (SE) which grants the IMMEX authorisation (programa IMMEX), and the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) and ANAM (Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de México) which oversee customs compliance of the temporary import pedimentos.

The Ley Aduanera Article 108 establishes the temporary importation regime (régimen de importación temporal) as the customs mechanism allowing goods to enter Mexico without payment of import duties (aranceles) and IVA, on the condition that they are exported within the periods established in Article 108-A LA — 18 months for raw materials and components, 24 months for containers and packaging, and indefinitely for machinery and equipment while the IMMEX authorisation remains valid. The entire IMMEX Programme structure is built on the temporal character of this customs regime — the maquiladora does not own the imported goods (which remain the property of the foreign principal) and must account for them in an IMMEX-approved inventory control system.

The Contrato de Maquila IMMEX is the contractual backbone of the maquiladora model and must satisfy requirements from multiple Mexican regulatory frameworks simultaneously. The Secretaría de Economía requires that the foreign principal and the Mexican IMMEX operator have a formal written manufacturing services contract as a condition for maintaining the IMMEX Programme registration — without a valid written contract evidencing the maquila services relationship, the SE may revoke the IMMEX Programme authorisation. The SAT and ANAM require the maquila contract to establish clear accountability for the temporarily imported goods — particularly the inventory control obligations, the scraps (desperdicios) and defective goods handling, and the re-export timelines.

The maquiladora model in Mexico developed starting in the 1960s along the US-Mexico border under the Border Industrialisation Programme, expanded nationwide following Mexico's accession to GATT in 1986, and was transformed by the enactment of NAFTA in 1994 (subsequently replaced by USMCA/T-MEC in 2020). Today Mexico's IMMEX Programme covers approximately 5,000 active companies employing over 2.8 million workers, concentrated in the automotive, electronics, aerospace, medical devices, and apparel industries — all operating under the Contrato de Maquila IMMEX framework.

The foreign principal in a maquiladora contract typically retains ownership (propiedad) of all raw materials, components, tooling, and finished goods throughout the manufacturing process — the Mexican IMMEX operator is a service provider, not a buyer of the materials. This ownership structure has important implications for Mexican law: the foreign principal must be identified in the temporary import pedimentos as the owner of the goods; the IMMEX operator holds the goods as a bailee (depositario) under the CCF for the duration of the manufacturing process; and upon completion, the finished goods must be exported in the foreign principal's name or transferred to another IMMEX operator or customs regime.

Since January 2022, IMMEX operators filing export pedimentos through VUCEM must also issue the SAT CFDI Carta Porte for domestic transport movements of IMMEX goods between facilities, adding another compliance layer to the maquila operational framework.

A Maquiladora Contract Mexico is required whenever a foreign company (or a Mexican company acting as principal) contracts with a Mexican IMMEX Programme operator to perform manufacturing, assembly, or transformation services on materials imported temporarily under the Decreto IMMEX and Ley Aduanera Article 108.

The contract is needed at the outset of establishing a maquiladora operation — before the Secretaría de Economía approves the IMMEX Programme registration for the Mexican manufacturing entity. The SE requires evidence of a signed manufacturing services agreement between the foreign principal and the Mexican operator as part of the IMMEX Programme application and subsequent annual renewals.

A Contrato de Maquila IMMEX is needed by US and Canadian automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers contracting with Mexican maquiladoras in Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Sonora for manufacturing of automotive components, sub-assemblies, and wire harnesses under USMCA (T-MEC) regional value content rules — the maquila contract must establish the value-add calculation methodology for USMCA origin determination and the required record-keeping for certificates of origin.

The contract is required by electronics companies (empresas electrónicas) in Baja California and Jalisco contracting with Mexican IMMEX operators for printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), electronics manufacturing services (EMS), and final assembly of consumer electronics — the Contrato de Maquila must address SAT certification of destruction (constancia de destrucción) procedures for defective components and scraps that cannot be exported.

A maquila agreement is needed by medical device manufacturers (fabricantes de dispositivos médicos) in Baja California and Nuevo León contracting with Mexican IMMEX operators for manufacturing under US FDA 21 CFR Part 820 quality system regulations and COFEPRIS (Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios) Mexican device registration requirements — the contract must address quality control obligations, traceability, and regulatory compliance responsibilities.

Under Decreto IMMEX art. 2, Ley Aduanera art. 108, and Secretaría de Economía IMMEX Programme rules, a formal written maquila contract is a legal prerequisite for maintaining IMMEX Programme status — companies operating maquila arrangements without a written contract risk IMMEX Programme revocation, retroactive assessment of import duties on all temporarily imported goods, and SAT penalties under the Código Fiscal de la Federación.

A valid Maquiladora Contract Mexico under the Decreto IMMEX Article 2, Ley Aduanera Article 108, and Secretaría de Economía programme requirements must contain the following essential elements:

Identification of Parties: Full legal name, RFC, country of incorporation, and registered address of the foreign principal (empresa contratante extranjera); full legal name, RFC, domicilio fiscal, and IMMEX Programme registration number (número de programa IMMEX otorgado por la Secretaría de Economía) of the Mexican IMMEX operator.

Scope of Manufacturing Services (Alcance de los Servicios de Maquila): Precise description of the manufacturing, assembly, transformation, or service operations to be performed — including the production process description (descripción del proceso productivo), the materials and components to be processed (materias primas e insumos a transformar), the finished products to be produced (productos terminados a obtener), applicable quality standards (normas de calidad — ISO 9001, IATF 16949, AS 9100, ISO 13485 as applicable), and the manufacturing facility address where IMMEX operations will be conducted.

Ownership of Materials and Goods: Express statement that all raw materials, components, tooling, machinery, and finished goods supplied by or belonging to the foreign principal remain the property of the foreign principal throughout the maquila process. The Mexican IMMEX operator acknowledges acting as a service provider and bailee of the principal's goods — not as a buyer. This ownership confirmation is critical for the SAT's IMMEX inventory control requirements.

IMIEX Inventory Control Obligations: The Mexican operator's obligation to maintain an IMMEX-approved inventory control system (sistema de control de inventarios aprobado por el SAT) that tracks in real time: receipt of temporarily imported goods (entradas de mercancías de importación temporal); consumption in production (consumos en producción); finished goods produced (producción terminada); exports of finished goods (retornos o exportaciones); and disposition of scraps, defectives, and waste (desperdicios, defectuosas y mermas). The SAT requires that the IMMEX inventory system be capable of generating reports (reportes de inventarios) for SAT and ANAM verification visits at any time.

Temporary Import Pedimento Management: Allocation of responsibility for filing temporary import pedimentos (pedimentos de importación temporal) through VUCEM by the agreed customs broker; compliance with the 18-month re-export timeline for raw materials under Ley Aduanera Article 108-A; procedure for requesting pedimento extensions (prórrogas) from ANAM where goods cannot be exported within the standard period; and procedure for changing customs regime for goods that cannot be exported (cambio de régimen aduanero).

Maquila Fee and Payment Terms (Cargo de Maquila y Condiciones de Pago): Agreed manufacturing service fee structure — per unit (por pieza), per hour (por hora-hombre), cost-plus (costo más margen), or fixed monthly fee — in USD or MXN; payment terms; SAT transfer pricing compliance obligations under LISR (Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta) Article 179 and the OCDE Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, since the maquila fee between related parties (partes relacionadas) must meet the arm's length standard (principio de plena competencia); and the advance pricing agreement (acuerdo anticipado de precios de transferencia or APA) procedure with the SAT if applicable.

Intellectual Property Protection: Ownership and licencing of all intellectual property (propiedad intelectual) — patents (patentes), trademarks (marcas), trade secrets (secretos industriales under LFPPI art. 82), industrial designs (diseños industriales), and technical know-how (conocimiento técnico) — used in the maquila process. Express prohibition on the Mexican operator using the foreign principal's IP for any purpose other than performing the maquila services. Confidentiality obligations for all technical and commercial information shared under the contract.

Labour and IMSS Compliance: The Mexican IMMEX operator's sole responsibility for all labour obligations under the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT) — salaries, benefits, IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) contributions, INFONAVIT (Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores) contributions, profit-sharing (PTU — Participación de los Trabajadores en las Utilidades), and compliance with NOM-030-STPS-2009 and other applicable STPS (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social) safety norms — for all Mexican employees performing maquila services. The contract should include Article 15 LFT subcontracting compliance provisions.

Forms-legal.com provides this Maquiladora Contract Mexico template as a practical starting point. IMMEX Programme operations involve complex multi-agency compliance — SE programme requirements, SAT inventory control and transfer pricing, ANAM temporary import management, and LFT labour obligations — and should be established with guidance from a Licenciado en Derecho specialised in comercio exterior and derecho fiscal, working alongside the company's customs broker and transfer pricing advisor.