Do you want to import products to Mexico?

In Mexico, every product or service has to comply with certain requirements imposed by the relevant authorities in order to ensure the fulfilment of quality, information and safety requirements. These regulatory measures can either be imposed by (i) customs authorities or by (ii) other agencies such as the Federal Consumer Protection Office (PROFECO), the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) or the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFETEL).

While the former can require that the products to be imported meet the applicable requirements in order to be able to import them into the country; the latter monitors compliance by products and services with applicable regulations, as well as issues authorisations to prove compliance.

The importance of the official Mexican standards (NOMs)

Most regulations for products or services are provided by NOMs, consisting of technical regulations of mandatory compliance issued by the competent agencies that establish rules, specifications, attributes, guidelines or requirements for a product, process, facility, activity, service, system or method of operation or production, as well as those relating to terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling.

In this regard, Article 52 of the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization provides that all products, processes, methods, installations, services or activities shall comply with NOMs.

"In the case of electronic devices that use the radio sprectrum, IFETEL may issue certifications of approval as proof that the relevent products do not cause interference."

In addition, Article 50 of the Regulations of the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization provides that fulfilling the requirements about commercial information of products or services is the importer, producer or retailer’s responsibility.

PROFECO enforces compliance of certain products or services—made publicly available—with NOMs, by means of random verifications with manufacturers, producers, retailers, importers or service providers during which they have to prove, through an administrative procedure, that their products meet the relevant regulations. Furthermore, PROFECO receives consumers’ complaints or denunciations from those who deem that their consumer rights have been violated.

If PROFECO determines that the manufacturer, producer, retailer, importer or service provider has violated the NOMs, the result can be fines of up to MXN3,602,014.34 ($277,000) per procedure. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the applicable NOMs for the different products or services offered in order to avoid penalties by PROFECO, or problems while importing them.

The most common NOMs PROFECO verifies are those of commercial information, labelling and marking of products. Information such as warnings, the symbology for units of measure (eg, quantity, electrical features or values, size), warranty policies, manuals and instructions, are provided by commercial information NOMs such as:

•  NOM-001-SCFI-1993 “Electronic appliances—electronic appliances for domestic use supplied by different sources of electrical energy—safety requirements and testing methods for type approvals”;

•  NOM-003-SCFI-2000 “Electrical products—safety specifications”;

•  NOM-016-SCFI-1993 “Electronic devices—electronic devices for office use powered by various sources of electrical energy—safety requirements and testing methods”;

•  NOM-024-SCFI-1998 “Commercial information for packaging—instructions and guarantees for electronic, electric and electric household products”;

•  NOM-008-SCFI-2002 “General system of units of measure”, and

•    NOM-050-SCFI-2004 “Commercial information—general labelling of products”.

Moreover, certain organisations are legally authorised to issue compliance certifications with NOMs that may be requested by customs authorities or PROFECO for import procedures or routine verifications respectively.

Advertising restrictions and regulations

Once the products or services have complied with the applicable NOMs, the next step for the retailer, manufacturer, producer, importer or service provider is to make them available to the public.

Advertising is the most important way for the general consumer to acknowledge their products or services.

However, certain advertising regulations imposed by PROFECO shall also be enforced to avoid violations to consumer rights. Limitations to advertising may be the following:

•  Avoid any false, erroneous or confusing information;

•  Be cautious upon using “commercial claims”; and

•  Restrict the use of comparative advertising to avoid damaging the competition, eg, by defaming a trademark by using erroneous or confusing information.

Other important authorisations

Furthermore, depending on the product or service in question, there may be various permits or authorisations that must be issued before several authorities in order to produce, manufacture, import, export or commercialise the same.

In the case of medicines, health supplies, food, alcohol, tobacco products, plant nutrients or pesticides, COFEPRIS may issue sanitary registrations, permits or licences in order to promote compliance with applicable sanitary regulations.

COFEPRIS can equally impose regulations on commercial information for drugs and other health supplies. To enforce compliance of these products with the applicable sanitary and commercial information regulations, COFEPRIS is entitled to verify and issue fines if the requirements are not met. Furthermore, if such regulations are not complied with before the Customs authorities, importation or exportation shall not be granted.

In the case of electronic devices that use the radio spectrum, IFETEL may issue certifications of approval as proof that the relevant products do not cause interference in the radio spectrum. To enforce compliance of these products with the applicable regulations, IFETEL is equally entitled to verify and issue fines if the requirements are not met. Furthermore, if the regulations are not complied with before Customs, its importation or exportation shall not be granted.

As described above, there are several regulations that companies have to comply with in Mexico for various products and services. It is important to mention that PROFECO, COFEPRIS or IFETEL run programmes to verify compliance with applicable regulations several times a year, which can result in fines and partial or definitive closures.

In addition, if a certain company infringes these regulations more than once, the resulting sanctions may be more severe as they could be deemed repeat offences. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly identify the applicable regulations of the products or services that are intended for commercial purposes in the country.

Jorge Gómez is a partner at Dumont Bergman Bider & Co. He can be reached at  jgomez@dumont.com.mx

Antonio Donatlan is an attorney at Dumont Bergman Bider & Co. He can be reached at adonatlan@dumont.com.mx