Companies doing
business in Mexico must be familiar with Mexican business laws and
regulations. These include the
Commercial Code (Código de Comercio),
the General Business Entities Act (Ley
General de Sociedades Mercantiles) and the Foreign Investment Act (Ley de Inversión Extranjera). In addition, such companies must be familiar
with the Official Mexican Standards or Normas
Oficiales Mexicanas. Failure to do
so may result in monetary fines, business closures or restriction from
exporting goods or services to Mexico.
Official
Mexican Standards (as known by their Mexican acronym, “NOMS”) are
mandatory technical regulations that establish rules, specifications, or
requirements for goods and services. NOMS
serve as tools that allow Mexican governmental agencies establish measurable
parameters to prevent injuries or damages to the general population, to animals
or to the environment. For instance, NOMS
may require the use of green energy products, the implementation of accurate
phone billing practices, compliance with accurate product measurements
procedures, the inclusion of certain timeshare contract provisions, or
compliance with health and safety standards.
As there are
literally hundreds of NOMS, all of which are fairly technical, consulting with competent legal counsel is
sound business practice. Examples of areas or industries regulated by NOMS include:
Governmental Activities, Food, Water, Fishing and Agriculture, Hospitals,
Alcohol and Tobacco, Telecommunications, Hospitality, Real Estate, Banking and Finance,
Oil and Gas, Mining, Automobile, Clothing, Electronics, Jewelry, Plastics,
Rubber, Transportation, etc.
The government
is in charge of identifying and evaluating the risks and issuing NOMS to
prevent them. In the process, however,
experts, chambers, professional organizations and market participants get
actively involved. Initial drafts are submitted to the National Standards
Consulting Committee (Comité Consultivo
Nacional de Normalización) for preliminary approval.
Once approved, NOMS are published in the Federal Official Gazette for a
60-day public review period. Upon the
expiration of such term, the corresponding NOM is revised as needed and the
final version is published in the Federal Official Gazette.
Pursuant to
Mexico’s Federal Metrology and Standardization Law, there are, in addition to
NOMS, Mexican Standards and Reference Standards. Mexican Standards or NMXs are
developed by a national standardization body or by the Ministry of
the Economy. These standards establish the minimum quality requirements of
products and services in order to protect and guide consumers. Compliance with
these standards is voluntary, except in those cases where individuals express
that their products, processes or services conform to them, or when a NOM
requires the enforcement of a NMX for specific purposes.
Reference
Standards or NRFs are developed by public administration entities for application
to goods or services they acquire, lease or hire, when Mexican or international
standards do not cover the relevant requirements or their specifications are
obsolete or inapplicable.
A full NOM
catalogue is available online at: http://www.economia-noms.gob.mx/noms/inicio.do
Mauricio Leon
de la Barra is an international law attorney licensed to practice law in Mexico
and California, and has more than 15 years of experience representing clients
in cross-border business and real estate transactions and litigation involving
international, U.S. and Mexican laws.