The Cámara Nacional de la Industria Editorial Mexicana (Caniem) presented on September 2 a five-point plan for the book sector and requested a meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum. A zero VAT rate for bookstores is among the plan's central measures, responding to remarks the president made on August 20 about the closure of Ediciones Era.
At her morning press conference on August 20, the president said: "It is not good news that a book publisher is closing. So, we need to look at how we can provide support." With a public statement titled "Madam President, we share your concern," Caniem responded that access to books cannot be left solely to market conditions, according to El Universal. "The closure of a publisher is a warning signal," the trade group stated, and Ediciones Era is not an isolated case: publishers and bookstores are facing shrinking spaces for book circulation and the absence of a permanent public policy to promote reading. The issue also extends to Spanish-language readers in Latino communities across the United States and Canada, who depend on books from these imprints.
The plan, also reported by La Jornada, puts forward five actions for joint work:
- Enforce the Law for the Promotion of Reading and Books, in force since 2008, and guarantee effective application of the fixed-price system.
- Open a direct channel of dialogue between the sector and the Executive that does not run solely through the state publisher.
- Apply a zero VAT rate to bookstores and distributors, as already applies to food and medicine.
- Rebuild the public library system, whose catalogs have gone seven years without being updated.
- Strengthen the national reading policy and revitalize the National Reading Program.
The trade group argues that a sound public reading policy generates effects throughout the entire book supply chain.
Caniem called for action before the situation of more companies in the sector becomes unsustainable, and is awaiting a response from the Presidency to its meeting request. The plan aims to bring books to schools, libraries, and communities, including those of the Latin diaspora in North America.
This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.