INTRODUCTION.
All goods and products imported into Mexico must comply with any applicable standards and labeling requirements.
Applicable standards and labeling requirements are listed by harmonized tariff system (HS or HTS) code.
Mandatory and proposed standards are published by the Mexican Government in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion (Official Gazette) - the Mexican equivalent of the US Federal Register.
These are published in the form of a Norma Oficial Mexicana (NOM) (Official Mexican Standard), or a Proyecto de Norma Oficial Mexicana (Proposed Official Mexican Standard).
TYPES OF MEXICAN STANDARDS.
In contrast to the United States where standards are primarily voluntary, market driven requirements, most product standards and all technical regulations issued in Mexico are government mandated.
Mexico has two types of standards; voluntary and mandatory.
NOM: (Normas Oficial Mexicanas): These are mandatory technical regulations. All Mexican Government technical regulations, regardless of the Ministry that issues them, now have the prefix NOM.
grain products: bread, rice, cornmeal, and pasta
San Lázaro Palace, the Chamber of Deputies, Congr...
Guadalupe victoriaIf there is a mandatory product standard in force for a given good, then the NOMs technical regulations apply to imported products as well as domestically produced goods. NOMs are usually enforced at the border.
NMX: (Normas Mexicanas): These are voluntary standards, intended for use as references. The use of voluntary standards, or NMXs, is increasing.
WHAT IS A NORMA OFICIAL MEXICANA?
A Norma Oficial Mexicana is a mandatory technical regulation that establishes the rules, specifications, attributes, directives, characteristics or prescriptions applicable to a product, process, installation, system, activity, service or method of production or operation, as well as those relative to terminology, symbols, packing, marking or labels.
EXAMPLE:
NOM-041-SSA-1993
Outlines sanitary regulations in regards to bottled water.
NOM: Norma Oficial Mexicana
041: Sequential number
SSA: Organization, Institution or Dept. involved
1993: Year in which the NOM was proposed
STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT (NOMs)
The process of standards development in...