A collegiate court removed a suspension of general effects that was maintained on a project of the Ministry of Energy (Sener) that wants to reduce the validity of hydrocarbon import and export permits. And now, the dependency moves forward with its implementation.
In essence, the agreement, which was originally published in December 2020, raises the requirements for requesting an authorization to market hydrocarbons and eliminates import permits valid for 20 years, replacing them with others with a maximum duration of five years.
Days after its publication, a judge specialized in competition issued a general suspension on the project, which prevented its content from being implemented in the market. Now, that suspension has been scrapped and Sener has sent a proposed agreement to the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement (CONAMER) to repeal the suspension of the project and begin its implementation.
The project still maintains some suspensions promoted by private companies. That is to say, what is contained in the agreement will have no effect on the companies that promoted an amparo and obtained a suspension in particular.
There are 38 lawsuits against this measure, but not all of them were brought by private companies.
With the agreement, the Ministry of Energy will no longer grant fuel import and export permits with a duration of up to 20 years, but will now be granted for a maximum of five years based on the principles of current public policy, based on the “energy sovereignty of the country”. The agreement also establishes that permits with a duration of five years can only be extended for a similar period and those that were granted for one year can only achieve two extensions for the same time.
“The activities of the Ministry of Energy in terms of granting and supervising prior import and export permits for petroleum products and hydrocarbons will be guided based on the objectives of public policy in energy matters, including those of the country’s energy security, sustainability , continuity of fuel supply and market diversification”, reads the project published in December 2020.
Some organizations, such as the Federal Economic Competition Commission, have assured that this project expands Sener’s discretion to grant new permits and distorts the administrative figure of these. “It makes it a public policy instrument to control the energy balance, encourage compliance with tax and customs obligations, as well as prevent fraud and smuggling,” says the antitrust agency in a 2020 statement.
The fuel import market was opened up to private companies with the 2013 reform. In a short time, the state-owned Pemex lost a significant share of the market in fuel purchases from abroad, mainly from the United States.
In 2016, when the entry of new companies began, the state-owned Pemex had 100% of the import market for all fuels. Already, by 2021, its diesel purchases have been cut by 50% and those of diesel and gasoline represent around 70% of the total.
The federal government Since last year, Sener, the Tax Administration System (SAT) and the Energy Regulatory Commission began a series of periodic verifications of storage and import terminals and other points in the logistics chain in search of irregularities related to with the entry of the products.
