In short: Latin America has no single import route. Mexico has been closed to new slot machine operation since the reform published on 16 November 2023, and its automatic import notice has stalled land-based gaming equipment for more than a year. Colombia accepts imports but requires every importer and distributor to register in the Coljuegos Registro Único de Importadores y Comercializadores (RIC) before shipping, then to report each machine's destination within ten working days of customs clearance. Peru authorises machines through MINCETUR rather than at the border. In all three, the party that may import is the licensed operator or its registered importer, not the factory. GOLDPRIME supplies the cabinet, the documentation set and the Spanish-language technical file; the registration and the permit stay with the local party.
Key takeaways
- Mexico: slot machine operation is prohibited for new permit holders from 16 November 2023. Permits granted earlier keep running, but are capped at a non-extendable fifteen years.
- Mexico's second gate: the aviso automático de importación has blocked land-based gaming equipment imports for over a year. A valid permit alone does not move goods through customs.
- Colombia: RIC registration is mandatory before import. Per-shipment destination reporting is due within ten working days of nationalisation.
- Colombia's design choice: Coljuegos rejected mandatory pre-import per-shipment authorisation. The control is post-import traceability, not a border gate.
- The Spanish technical file is a deliverable, not a formality: serial number, classification, manufacturer, brand, model, year, country of origin, element type and high-resolution photographs.
Which Latin American markets still accept new slot machine imports?
Four jurisdictions, four different answers. The table below is the decision view: what is open, which instrument controls entry, and which party is entitled to import. Read the third column before quoting a machine — it decides whether a project is possible at all.
| Market | Status for new machines | Controlling instrument | Who may import |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Closed to new slot machine operation | SEGOB permit under the Reglamento de la Ley Federal de Juegos y Sorteos, plus NOM conformity and the automatic import notice | The permisionario only; the third-party operador route was abolished in 2023 |
| Colombia | Open, under a registry regime | Coljuegos RIC registration, then per-shipment destination reporting | An importer or distributor registered in the RIC |
| Peru | Authorised, market by market | MINCETUR authorisation for the operator and its machines | The authorised operator |
| Argentina, Chile | Split by province or region | Provincial or regional gaming authority | The locally licensed operator |
Two consequences follow. First, no single document set covers the region: a Colombian file does not answer a Peruvian question, and neither helps in Mexico. Second, the commercial conversation starts with the operator's licence status, not with the price of the cabinet.
Why is Mexico closed to new slot machine imports?
Because a decree changed the definition, not the tariff. The decree published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 16 November 2023 amended the Reglamento de la Ley Federal de Juegos y Sorteos and took effect the following day. Article 12 defines a máquina tragamonedas as any device through which a user plays with a bet, by inserting cash or another form of payment, in order to obtain a prize — and prohibits its operation.
Four features of that decree decide what a supplier can still do:
- Existing permits survive, with a shorter clock. Slot machine permits granted before the decree remain valid, but their maximum term is reduced to a non-extendable fifteen years from publication. No renewal is contemplated.
- The operador figure is gone. Only the permisionario may now operate an establishment, and article 30, which had allowed a permit holder to authorise a third party to run the business, was repealed. Sub-licensing ended with it.
- One permit, one venue. Permit terms now run from one to fifteen years, and relocating a venue requires a new permit.
- Article 12 Bis survived. Betting terminals for horse racing and sporting events remain exempt, provided they are identified in the authorised establishment and carry SEGOB authorisation.
The second gate is administrative rather than legal. The automatic import notice has been blocking land-based gaming equipment for over a year, which means a project can hold a valid permit and still be unable to clear customs. Any supplier presenting Mexico as an open market in 2026 is describing the pre-2023 regime.
What does Coljuegos require before you ship to Colombia?
A registration, not a pre-shipment approval. Colombia created the Registro Único de Importadores y Comercializadores (RIC) to control the entry of máquinas electrónicas tragamonedas (METs) and gaming elements. Registration is mandatory for anyone who imports, markets or transfers METs in the country, including foreign manufacturers acting through a local importer, distributors, assemblers and agents that sell, lease or transfer equipment.
| Step | What is required | Why it matters to a supplier |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Register | Application within the registration window opened by the resolution, filed with the documents listed below | A shipment cannot be lawfully nationalised by an unregistered party |
| 2. Nationalise | Customs clearance through the importer of record | The supplier is not the importer; the registered local party is |
| 3. Report | Destination report within ten working days of nationalisation: quantity, technical data sheet, intended operator or recipient | Reporting delay is an offence independent of the machine's compliance |
| 4. Renew | Registration runs four years; renewal is filed six months before expiry | A lapsed registration stops the next order, not the current one |
Documents requested at registration include a letter addressed to the Coljuegos presidency signed by the legal representative, a certificate of existence and legal representation (issued within ninety days), and an updated single tax registry (RUT) showing the relevant economic activity. The registry is interoperable with DIAN, the tax and customs authority, which can refuse a customs operation that does not match a registration.
One design point is often misreported. Coljuegos declined to impose mandatory per-shipment pre-import authorisation, manufacturer pre-accreditation, environmental certification and hardware homologation, on the grounds that customs control belongs to the trade authority. The control model is registration plus post-import traceability. Suppliers who budget for a pre-approval that does not exist lose weeks; suppliers who ignore the destination report lose the registration.
What must be translated into Spanish?
The technical data sheet, and it must carry fields a freight document does not. The destination report requires the sheet in Spanish with the serial number, classification, manufacturer's code and name, brand, model, year of manufacture, country of origin, element type, and high-resolution photographs. A commercial invoice with a model name and a value is not a technical file.
Practically, the sheet has to be produced before the container leaves, from the same build record that the factory uses for inspection. Retrofitting it after arrival is possible only if the serial numbers and photographs were captured at packing — which is why the documentation step belongs in production, not in the destination country.
Who is allowed to import: the factory or the operator?
The operator or its registered importer. A manufacturer outside the country cannot be the importer of record in any of these markets, and the three routes that do work all place the legal act with a local party: the customer registers directly, a local importer registers and on-sells, or a distributor registers and holds the traceability obligation.
This changes what a supplier is asked to deliver. The useful package is the cabinet, a documentation set that satisfies a registration filing, a Spanish technical sheet per serial number, photographs of each unit at packing, and a wiring and peripheral list that survives a technical review. What a supplier cannot deliver is the registration, the permit, or an opinion on whether the machine is lawful in the destination market.
What happens if you ship without registration in Colombia?
The equipment can be treated as contraband or as an illegal game, with seizure, tax penalties and criminal proceedings following. The revised framework also removed discretionary leniency based on good faith or on the revenue effect: sanctions are objective. Accumulating reporting delays more than twice during an authorisation term leads to revocation of the permit, alongside fixed suspensions for specific infractions.
For a supplier, the practical risk sits upstream. A seized shipment is a total loss for the buyer, and the buyer's response is to stop the next order and dispute the invoice. Checking the importer's registration status before booking production is cheaper than any remedy afterwards.
What GOLDPRIME supplies — and what it does not
| GOLDPRIME provides | GOLDPRIME does not provide |
|---|---|
| Cabinet manufacture to a specified build standard, with the sheet metal enclosure produced at our cabinet partner in Foshan | The import registration, the operating permit or a legal opinion on local legality |
| A documentation set structured around the fields a registration filing asks for | An accredited laboratory certificate issued in the buyer's jurisdiction |
| Spanish-language technical data sheets per model, with serial-number traceability | An appointment as importer of record, or a customs broker relationship |
| Unit photographs and packing records captured before the container is sealed | A promise that a given machine will be approved in a given market |
That division is not modesty. Registration and permitting are acts of the local party; a supplier claiming to arrange them is describing a service it cannot perform. What we can do is make the documentation step cheap for the party who has to file.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreign manufacturer import slot machines into Colombia directly?
No. The RIC registers the importer or distributor that operates in Colombia. A foreign manufacturer participates through a registered local party, which remains the importer of record and carries the destination-reporting obligation.
Is Mexico still a viable market for new slot machines?
Not for new operation. The 2023 decree prohibits slot machine operation for new permit holders, and the automatic import notice has stalled land-based gaming equipment for over a year. Existing permits continue under a fifteen-year cap that cannot be extended.
Does Colombia require approval of each shipment before it leaves?
No. Coljuegos declined to impose mandatory per-shipment pre-import authorisation. The obligation is registration before import and a destination report within ten working days after nationalisation.
What language must the technical file be in?
Spanish. The destination report asks for a technical data sheet translated into Spanish, carrying the serial number, classification, manufacturer, brand, model, year, country of origin, element type and high-resolution photographs.
Who pays if a shipment is seized for missing registration?
The buyer, as importer of record. The exposure is the full shipment, plus tax penalties. That is why checking the importer's RIC status belongs before production, not after booking.
Does GOLDPRIME handle the registration for us?
No. We supply the cabinet, the documentation set and the Spanish technical sheets. The registration, the permit and the legal assessment are acts of the licensed or registered local party.
Need the document set for a Latin American filing?
Tell us the destination market, the machine class and the quantity. We answer with the documentation we can issue, the fields we capture at packing, and a production date — not with an approval promise.
Request a document set