The Third Electronic Invoicing Workshop was held on March 16 to 18 in Mexico City, sponsored by the Tax Administration Service of Mexico. Officials from 8 CIAT member countries and a representative from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) ere present in this event.

The issues discussed dealt with technologies used in the transmission of electronic invoices, options regarding standards of the invoices and electronic exchange of information. Participants evidenced excellent presentations on the use of current technologies for processing invoices and monitoring the transportation of acquired goods. Also, officials from the Brazilian states, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico presented very interesting technological applications. The IDB representative showed participants an electronic system currently being used in Central America to speed up the delivery process.

Likewise in this workshop, private businesses showed how they use the electronic invoice. It was indeed positive to see the great interest shown by these Mexican companies in working with SAT to improve the system.

There was great enthusiasm in moving toward a possible standard invoice, as well as in creating a model for electronic information exchange. This initiative requires the participation of the customs sector, because of the important role it plays in the transportation of goods across the borders. A meeting is being considered, to be possibly held in May, with countries that have already implemented the electronic invoice and would like to learn about the benefits and methods  of an agreement on the exchange of electronic invoices.