Import: Standards, Testing, Etc.

Standards and Technical Regulations

Standards and technical regulations are created to defend the safety of humans, the environment, and the nation. The requirements may concern the features or quality of a product or the procedures for testing, certification, labeling, and so on. They relate to issues such as product development, production, packaging, storage, distribution, and marketing.

Standards are voluntary and are generally developed by a group of stakeholders, such as industry, consumers, public authorities, and researchers. Technical regulations are compulsory requirements set by governments. A standard may become a technical regulation if a government mandates it. 

Standards Bodies

International organizations devoted to creating and administering standards include:

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T), telecommunication standardization sector

General Directorate of Standards (Dirección General de Normas or DGN)

Mexico's General Directorate of Standards (Dirección General de Normas or DGN), organized under the Ministry of Economy, coordinates the efforts of the public sector through institutions directly related to scientific metrology and industry. The aim of the DGN is to coordinate the development of standards and regulations and to promote their use.

The system consists of three fundamental activities: national and international standardization (including regulations), metrology and accreditation, and conformity assessment. DGN's activities include the following:

• Participating in international organizations and other relevant forums to represent the interests of national sectors
• Coordinating the development of national regulations and standards 
• Registering national standardization bodies to issue standards
• Authorizing the accreditation entity and overseeing its work and its compliance with regulations 
• Issuance of regulations on metrological instruments and approval of prototypes and models
• Participating in metrology forums
• Providing training to enhance human resources
• Providing public information (i.e., online catalogue of Mexican Standards and Regulations)
• Promoting the system as a whole through participation in and organizing of conferences, seminars, and workshops
• Serving as the Technical Secretary of the National Standardization Commission (CNN). The CNN approves the National Standardization Program and issues recommendations on the whole system.

Official Mexican Standards (Las Normas Oficiales Mexicanas or NOM)

The Official Mexican Standards (Las Normas Oficiales Mexicanas or NOM) are mandatory technical regulations issued by the competent agencies. NOM are developed by the Secretariat of Commerce and Industrial Development (Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial), under the Ministry of Economy. The NOM do not apply to products that are sold in bulk. It provides consumers with clear and adequate information to make informed purchasing decisions.

Labeling

Products that are imported into Mexico must provide information in Spanish. In case of a product bearing text in a foreign language, the information provided must also be expressed in Spanish on the label. Stickering is permitted for the first three months of import of a food or beverage product new to the market. The following information must be provided on the labels:

• Name of the product or merchandise or type of product and brand (must be on the primary surface)
• Name of the business and address of the manufacturer
• Name of the business and address of the importer
• Importer’s RFC and/or their industry association registration number
• Name or business name of the exporter
• List of ingredients in descending order, if equal to or exceeding 5% of product composition, including added water and the percent content of combined additives or colors
• Net contents (contenido neto) or drained weight (masa drenada) in metric units. In the Mexican metric system, a comma is used in place of a decimal point.
• Warnings or precautions on hazardous materials
• Use, handling, and care instructions for the products as required
• The country of origin (pais de origen) on goods destined for retail sale in the Mexican market
• Lot number. This can be based on the manufacturer’s own numbering system and is intended for the purpose of product recall if such becomes necessary.
• Expiration date (fecha de caducidad), as determined by the manufacturer

Nutritional Labeling

Mexico established new mandatory interpretative front-of-package nutrition label (FOPNL) modifications that will be implemented in three stages starting on October 1, 2020. Modifications to processed product labels include warning signs regarding nutritional content that could affect certain health conditions among the population, cautionary legends, and the prohibition of characters, graphics, or pictures intended to promote consumption among children.

As in every country, specific labeling and packaging requirements for Mexico are too numerous to list comprehensively. For more detailed information regarding the above mentioned nutrition label modifications, see the US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service report, Implementation of the New Mexican Regulation for Front-of-Package Nutrition Label from April, 2020. Implementation of the new label requirements will occur in phases, extending into 2025 and beyond.

The 2020 amendment to the Official Mexican Standard on the labeling specifications for pre-packaged food and non-alcoholic drink products was approved in NOM–051. This norm now provides clear and simple information about the content of products that may adversely affect diets and health, by means of the application of front-of-package warning labels indicating whether the product is excessive in critical nutrients (sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans-fats) and/or calories.

Labeling of Tobacco Products

Tobacco packages are required to bear three warnings: a pictorial warning with text covering at least 30 percent of the front; a text-only warning covering 100 percent of the back, and a related text-only message covering 100 percent of one of the side panels.

Verification Units

The government of Mexico has authorized several private companies to act as official "verification units" for all product labeling subject to NOM. Verification units perform the following two services and issue the documents specified below. The latter service is required once the product has reached Mexico.

Certificate of Conformity (Constancia de Conformidad)

This process consists of a pre-inspection of the product label or packaging to ensure that it complies with NOM and, when not in compliance, indicates the label's specific faults. The document issued by the verification unit in this case is called a "constancia" and guarantees to the Mexican border inspectors and customs services that the label complies with all NOM requirements. A single constancia can be issued for an entire product "family," regardless of the number of products in the family, as long as the products are of the same type, brand, and with identical or very similar labeling.

Compliance Opinion (Dictamen de Cumplimiento)

This procedure is a physical inspection of the product with label attached and applies to the following:

• Products in storage before entering Mexico
• Products manufactured and stored in Mexico
• Products entering the country in an in-bond status and taken directly to bonded storage facilities. In this case, the verification unit inspects the actual product-with-label to ensure that it complies with the requirements of NOM.

Note: The above information is subject to change. Importers are advised to obtain the most current information from a customs broker, freight forwarder, logistics professionals, or local customs authorities.

Sources: US Dept. of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service; Pan American Health Organization; World Health Organization, 

Article written for World Trade Press by Felicia Topp, Jennifer Goheen, Nina Bellucci, Felicia Topp.
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