Descargar

UNDERSTANDING THE LEGAL REGIME NO. 9

Luzmely-Rey

Luzmely Rey Hernández
Lawyer

 

I. APPLICATION OF LEGAL REGIME NO. 9

On March 6, 2025, Decree No. 5,103 was published[1], which establishes the first Reform of the Customs Tariff, the original text of which entered into force in May 2024[2]. One of the most relevant points of the reform was the inclusion of a new Legal Regime No. 9 (hereinafter, “RL9“), leaving aside the well-known “Import License of the Ministry of People’s Power with competence in matters of foreign trade“; for now, refer to a “Permit issued by the Permanent Presidential Commission, called the ‘Foreign Trade Committee” (hereinafter, “COMEX”).

On that same date, Decree No. 5,105 was published[3], through which COMEX was “created“. In accordance with current regulations, the purpose of the Committee is “to formulate and implement policy on foreign trade, promotion and promotion of exports, in order to guarantee the well-being of Venezuelans and the increase of national productive capacity.”

By virtue of the application of the new RL9, the first reform of the Customs Tariff modifies the restrictions applicable to certain products to incorporate this requirement. On this occasion, its requirement is waived for a period of one (1) year and the possibility of being extended was established. This measure was appropriate, since the COMEX would become operational and the regulations had to provide a reasonable period of time to implement its procedures and not generate negative effects on trade.

On June 30, 2025, another important reform of the Customs Tariff (Decree No. 5,147) was published[4], and one of the significant changes included the incorporation of RL9 to a significant number of tariff codes, and the exemption for a period of one (1) year was reduced to thirty (30) days, counted from the entry into force of this reform Decree.

Subsequently, Resolution 022-2025[5] dated July 3, 2025, issued by the Ministry of People’s Power of Economy and Finance (MPPEF), was published, through which certain types of vehicles and motorcycles were excluded from the application of the aforementioned RL9.

Subsequently, since mid-July 2025,  the field available to make applications for the RL9 permit for products that are affected by this tariff restriction can be seen in the COMEX system. In general terms, the system requests documents that must be available to importers, such as “Original invoice/commercial proforma, purchase order or acquisition contract and technical sheet” and include the explanatory statement. COMEX will evaluate the application and will decide through the same platform.

II. LEGAL-PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In accordance with Articles 117 and 120 of the Organic Customs Law (LOA),[6] on the one hand, goods in the Customs Tariff are classified as “taxed, untaxed, prohibited, reserved and subject to other restrictions, registrations or other requirements” and, on the other hand, the entry of goods into the national customs territory will generate the payment of the corresponding customs levies and taxes and also -as a general rule- “the legal regime in force on the date of registration of the customs declaration for its importation shall apply.”

According to Article 3 of the Customs Tariff, to register the customs declaration (SAD), the tariff classification must conform to customs regulations, including the Customs Tariff; and the classification will be conformed, among others, by the legal regime applicable to the product, which is related to the tariff code.

The RL9 has been incorporated into the legal regimes contemplated in Article 21 of the Customs Tariff and since the aforementioned reforms incorporate this requirement into column 5 of Article 37 ejusdem, it is understood that the RL9 will only be required for products whose tariff code is affected in column 5. Currently, there are more than 200 tariff codes to which the RL9 applies, so the entire tariff universe is not affected.

By virtue of the regulatory change and the fact that the exemption from the application of this RL9 is only 30 days (counted from the entry into force of Decree No. 5,147), some key aspects to consider a for avoiding sanctions and delays in customs are the following:

  • The interested party must consult the aforementioned regulations, to determine if the tariff code of the product to be imported is affected by the RL9.
  • Register in the COMEX web system and start the permit application (RL9).
  • The legal regime applicable to a product is the one in force on the date of registration of the customs declaration (DUA), so at that time the importer must have – in the event that it is already required – the legal regime in force.
  • The importation of products that do not have the legal regime entails sanctions that could generate the retention of the goods in customs, imposition of fines and – if they do not comply with the provisions of the LOA – the loss of the merchandise.
  • If the product affected by a legal regime, in turn, is eligible for a tax benefit on imports, this requirement must be in force for the benefit to be processed.

[1] Published in the Official Gazette No. 6,890 ext. dated March 6, 2025.

[2] Customs Tariff published in the Official Gazette No. 6,804 ext. dated Thursday, April 25, 2024, and which has been subject to various reforms during the year 2025.

[3] Published in the Official Gazette No. 6,890 ext. dated March 6, 2025.

[4] Published in the Official Gazette No. 6,918 dated June 30, 2025.

[5] Published in the Official Gazette No. 43.166 dated July 9, 2025.

[6] Published in the Official Gazette No. 6,507 dated January 29, 2025.

 

Contacts:

LEĜA Abogados
  infolaw@lega.law
  +58 (212) 277.22.00
  www.lega.law

Luzmely-Rey


Luzmely Rey
lrey@lega.law
+58 (0212) 277 2245 / +58 (414) 256 4877

 

The objective of the LEĜA Perspectives is to provide information to the clients and related members of LEĜA Abogados. This LEĜA Perspectives reflects the point of view of its author. Readers should not act on the basis of the information contained in this LEĜA Perspective, without first obtaining specific legal advice. This LEĜA Perspectives can be reproduced, in whole or in part, always indicating its author, source and origin in a prominent way.

©2022 LEĜA Abogados.