Mexico Congress votes to charge cruise ship passengers $42 per head for port calls

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Cruise ship industry players are up in arms after Mexico's lower house of Congress voted this week to impose a $42 immigration tax on every cruise passenger arriving in Mexico.

Two-thirds of the money collected, moreover, will go to the Mexican army, not to develop the port areas.

The Mexican Association of Shipping Agents cried foul Thursday night, saying the charges could make Mexico more expensive for cruise ships.

“If this measure is implemented, it will make Mexico's ports the most expensive in the world, seriously affecting their competitiveness with other Caribbean destinations,” the organization said in a statement.

The group asked the Mexican Senate not to approve the measure, which requires two-thirds of the revenue from the tax on immigrants to be transferred to the country's defense ministry, for unclear reasons.

Previously, seafarers did not pay entry fees, because they slept on the ships and some did not even get off the ship when the call was made. Apparently they will be charged a $42 fee anyway, according to the new budget law.

There have been plans around the world to ban cruise ships for fear of over-tourism, but that train left the station long ago on Mexico's Caribbean coast. Cozumel has been the world's busiest port for years, welcoming an estimated four million passengers annually.

“It is important to eliminate the exemption from payment of immigration documents for foreign passengers entering Mexico by cruise ship,” according to the new law.

Mexico's ruling Morena party already runs a huge budget deficit to finance pet construction projects like railroads and oil refineries – some of which are being built by the military – and is desperate for new sources of revenue.

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