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Mexican publishers propose five-point book policy plan to Claudia Sheinbaum Image: Instagram, vía @caniem_ & EL UNIVERSAL / Fernanda Zamora
🇲🇽 Mexico /Culture & Society

Mexican publishers propose five-point book policy plan to Claudia Sheinbaum

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • Mexico’s National Chamber of the Publishing Industry has asked President Claudia Sheinbaum to discuss a five-point plan for the book sector.
  • The proposals include enforcing a single-price law, establishing direct communication with publishers, applying a zero VAT rate to bookstores, rebuilding public libraries and strengthening the national reading policy.
  • The publishers issued the appeal after Sheinbaum expressed concern over the closure of Ediciones Era.

Mexican publishers are asking Claudia Sheinbaum to meet before more companies in the sector reach an “unsustainable” situation. Their appeal follows the president’s concern over the closure of Ediciones Era, which she called bad news and said required examination of ways to provide support.

The National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing Industry, known as Caniem, said the closure represented an alarm signal rather than an isolated case. Publishers and booksellers face increasingly difficult conditions, including fewer places for books to circulate and the absence of a permanent public policy promoting books and reading.

The closure of a publishing house is an alarm signal. Ediciones Era is not an isolated case.

— National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing IndustryCaniem’s assessment of the closure and wider pressure on publishers and booksellers.

Caniem’s five-point plan calls for effective enforcement of Mexico’s Book Law, including the single-price system to create fair competition. It also asks for clear, impartial communication between the government and the industry, rather than contact only through the state publishing house.

It is not good news that a book publisher is closing. So, we need to see how it can be supported.

— Claudia SheinbaumThe president’s statement that prompted the publishers’ response.

The group is seeking a zero VAT rate for bookstores and distributors, allowing them to recover the VAT paid during their operations, as food and medicine industries do. It also wants Mexico to rebuild its public library system through the purchase and renewal of books for school libraries and the National Library Network. Caniem said seven years have passed since library catalogues were last updated.

The final proposal is to strengthen the national reading policy by reinvigorating the National Reading Programme. The publishers said effective public policy would benefit the entire book chain and argued that access to books should depend on cooperation between public authorities and private actors, so books can reach schools, libraries, communities and readers across Mexico.

Access to books cannot be left exclusively to market conditions.

— National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing IndustryThe publishers’ argument for coordinated public and private action.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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