Mexico Mail: It’s not for Everybody

You are doing business with a company in Mexico. You need to receive documents from this company or a government office. Who do you call? It is probably not Mexico’s postal service unless you like living on the edge and wondering if your documents will ever arrive.



Mexico’s Postal Service, SEPOMEX

In the March 25, 2006 issue of the Economist, an article focused on Mexico’s national mail service, Servicio Postal Mexicano or Sepomex. The focus of the article, “On Mexican time” was an evaluation of the efficiency of Sepomex today compared to years past. Sepomex, much as the U.S. Postal Service, constitutionally has a monopoly for delivery of letters and small packages.

Gonzalo Alarcon, General Director of Sepomex, is quoted as saying “Delivery times are acceptable.” Government statistics seem to support this statement showing 95% of the mail arrives between one to ten days to the intended destination.

Worry if they say it’s in the mail

However, in a June 2005 article titled “Aviso: `el correo mexicano no es confiable`” (Warning: Mexican mail [service] isn’t reliable), journalist Samuel Garcia of “El Observador” starts with a couple of questions. “Do you have trust in the Mexican mail service?” and more importantly, “Do you trust that your documents and information will arrive at their destination?” According to Sr. Garcia, the majority of those polled gave a resounding “NO”.

Sr. Garcia wrote that during a candid interview, Sr. Alarcon said that Sepomex is incapable of supporting their service obligations. The inefficiencies and security risks were seen as very grave. During a talk that same month with the Commission de Governance of the House of Deputies, Sr. Alarcon said he could not guarantee the safe delivery of electoral (and highly secret) documents for the upcoming 2006 presidential election.

These documents only have to go from the Mexico City International Airport to the offices of IFE, Mexico’s Federal Institution of Elections, and yet the security of these documents was definitely in question a year ago. Electoral documents apparently were delivered without issue during the 2006 presidential election.

How to mail it with confidence

So you may be asking, “What does this have to do with me and my company?” It means if you want to receive documents from Mexico, you should request they be sent using an international carrier such as FedEx or UPS. One excellent benefit with these services is the tracking. Another benefit is that you are virtually guaranteed you will get your documents.

The reverse is also true. If you are going to send documents to Mexico, use an international carrier. You may be thinking, “Who wouldn’t use a service such as FedEx, UPS or DHL?” You might be surprised.

Don’t let this happen to you!

A few years ago, I was assisting a well known German medical device company. They had an office in the U.S. that was getting ready to market one of their products in Mexico. The product required safety testing and certification before it could be shipped and sold in Mexico.

The Mexican certification process has time limits. If the testing and documents are not received and approved by the appropriate certification agency in Mexico City within the established time frame, the testing can be voided. If this happens, the certification process has to start all over again including paying for the testing, documentation and approval process.

Testing was done quickly. Test documents were properly signed and notarized then sent to the U.S. executive overseeing the process. Documents were sent overnight. The executive signed the documents. A few days later, the package had not arrived at the Mexico office so our company contacted the executive. Yes, the documents had been signed. Yes, he had told his secretary to mail out the documents.

We learned a week later that the secretary was not made aware of the importance of these documents. She had sent the documents including the original testing documents with Mexican government seals and signatures with only first class postage to Mexico. The documents finally arrived after three weeks even though first class postage is insufficient for international delivery. The company was lucky and was able to receive their certification.

Mailing recommendations

If you are in Mexico and want to send documents or a small package back to the U.S., use a delivery service. If you are sending documents, especially those that are time sensitive, absolutely use a specialty carrier. Your business is too important and the risks too great to gamble with normal mail unless you are doing a direct mail campaign.

As a finally note, educate those in your company who will also be involved in working with Mexico. Let them be aware that mailing a letter or package internationally isn’t the same as mailing it domestically. Sending documents with the appropriate postage and service will ensure the mail is one less issue you have to worry about as you do business with Mexico.