Transactional and Corporate  I  March 2nd, 2023

Initiative proposing to establish a limit to the term for payments to suppliers

During the last  ordinary sessions period of the House of Representatives an initiative (the “Initiative”) was submitted for discussion to the Joint Commission on Economy, Commerce and Competitiveness proposing to add Article 83 Bis to the Code of Commerce. The Initiative aims to limit payment terms to no more than 45 calendar days on payments to micro, small and medium-size companies (hereinafter “MiPyMes”) owed by large companies. The Initiative is set to be submitted in the next ordinary sessions period that begin this coming February 2023. There is a threshold for identifying categories based on sales for micro, small, medium and large size companies.

The Initiative was submitted by Member Carlos Noriega Romero (MOR). The primary purpose for this addition is to protect MiPyMes since, as reported by National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI for its acronym in Spanish), these companies represent 99.8% of businesses in the country, of which the micro companies employ 37.2% of the economically active population, while small and medium companies employ 30.7%. Therefore, the Initiative intends to support these establishments that do not have equal bargaining power vis-à-vis large corporations, and to guarantee prompt payment for the sale of their goods and services It was also argued that Mexico is the country with the greatest economic impact due to payment delays in the local market.

It should be noted that the Initiative was only approved by the Joint Commission on Economy, Commerce and Competitiveness, therefore, we will confirm if the Initiative will continue to be discussed or if it will be rejected until Congress resumes activities.