WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/248 
3 November 2004 
 
 (04-4686) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICE 
 
Communication by Mexico
 
  
 The following communication, dated 3 November 2004, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Mexico.  
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. As an original signatory to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), 
Mexico has played an active role in the activities co ncerned with implementation of that international 
instrument, and is firmly committed to eliminating unnecessary technical barriers to trade by applying 
uniform rules and procedures directed to that end.  Accordingly, Mexico put forward its points of 
view and participated in the discussions during the Third Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement, in 
document G/TBT/W/209, dated 28 May 2003. 
2. Mexico attaches great importance to the implementation of the results and recommendations 
of the Third Triennial Review of the TBT Agreem ent, principally on account of the impact that 
implementation of the rules of that Agreement has on the health and growth of multilateral trade.  In 
this connection, it is highly relevant that in th e report on the Third Triennial Review of the TBT 
Agreement the Committee noted that " ... good regul atory practice can contribute to the effective 
implementation of the TBT Agreement, namely in the avoidance of unnecessary obstacles to trade in 
the preparation, adoption and application of technical  regulations (including associated standards) and 
conformity assessment procedures, in cluding those related to labelling."
1 
3. The purpose of this communication is to identify some of the elements of good regulatory 
practice in Mexico and so contribute to the ex change of experiences, as set out in the first 
recommendation in paragraph 7 of the report of the Third Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement. 
II. BASIC DISCIPLINES TO BE OBSERVED IN THE PREPARATION OF 
TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS 
4. In Mexico, the legal framework for the preparation of technical regulations and standards and 
conformity assessment procedures is contained in the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization 
(LFMN), published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 1 July 1992 and in the Regulations 
thereto, published in the same journal on 14 January 1999. 
5. The LFMN provides for a uniform procedure for drafting and amending any technical 
standard or regulation, regardless of whether th ey relate to goods, processes or services.  It 
                                                      
1 Document G/TBT/14, of 11 November 2003. G/TBT/W/248 
Page 2  
 
 furthermore lays down seven basic disciplines that  should be observed in such processes and which 
are deemed to be elements of good regulatory practice.  The disciplines are: 
(a) Representativeness:  All sectors that will be affected by the application of technical 
standards and regulations, both inside and outside the country, should participate in 
drafting or amending them.  To this end,  the LFMN provides for the creation of 
Standardization Committees, the membersh ip of which includes manufacturers, 
producers or service providers;  distributors;   traders;  consumers or users;  non-
governmental organizations;  scientific and research institutions;  social institutions (i.e. trade unions) and, of course, government institutions and agencies. 
(b) Consensus:  In addition to being discussed  by all the sectors concerned, technical 
standards and regulations (or amendments ther eto) need to be agreed on by all those 
sectors.  An exception to this rule is the case of technical regulations, which, in the 
absence of consensus, may be approved by an  absolute majority of the members of 
the Committee responsible for preparing them, and the competent agency has a 
casting vote. 
(c) Transparency:  When technical standards or regulations are being prepared or 
amended, throughout the process any interest ed party must be able to find out the 
content of all previous documents (drafts, et c.), as well as the final documents.  In this 
connection, the LFMN lays down the following obligations: 
• At the beginning of each year, all subjects that will be covered by technical 
standards or regulations must be in cluded in an instrument known as the 
National Standardization Programme.  Th is instrument is published in the 
Official Journal of the Federation and is  notified to the bodies indicated in the 
international agreements concluded by Mexico (i.e. WTO Central Registry of 
Notifications); 
 
• draft technical standards and regulations  must be published in the Official 
Journal of the Federation for consulta tion by the public for the period of 
60 days, and such publication is notified to the bodies indicated in the 
international agreements  concluded by Mexico; 
 
• any interested party may consult the "Regulatory Impact Assessment" (MIR) 
and participate in the meetings of the Committee responsible for preparing 
the technical rule or regulations; 
 
• replies to comments received during the public consultation period must be 
published in the Official Journal of the Federation;  and 
 
• the final version of the technical standard  or regulations must be published in 
the Official Journal of the Federation and, where appropriate, notified to the 
agencies indicated in international agreements concluded by Mexico 
(e.g. United States and Canadian contact points under NAFTA); 
 
• generally speaking, a period of not less than 60 calendar days following the 
date of publication in the Official Jour nal of the Federation should be allowed 
for the entry into force of tec hnical standards and regulations. 
  G/TBT/W/248 
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  (d) Non-discrimination:  Technical standard s or regulations must afford imported goods 
or services treatment no less favourable than that granted to like domestic goods or services in the same circumstances, and to products from third countries. 
  (e) Rationality:  Technical regulations must not  restrict trade more than is necessary to 
attain a legitimate objective, bearing in mi nd for such purposes the risk of failure to 
achieve the objective.  Observance of this di scipline lies in the preparation of an MIR 
for all preliminary draft technical regulations (which is not necessary in the case of technical standards, in view of their emin ently voluntary nature).  The MIR consists 
of a legal, economic and social study of the regulations that are to be issued, 
necessarily explaining:   
 
• The purpose of the regulations, describing the situation or c onduct that is to 
be regulated and, where appropriate, th e legal statutes enabling the authority 
to do so; 
 
• a description of the proposed measu res to achieve the purpose of the 
regulations; 
 
• the alternatives considered before pr eparing the draft regulations and the 
reasons why they were discarded; 
 
• the potential advantages and disadvantages of the regulations; 
 
• the way in which a matter is regulated internationally or in other countries; 
 
• the impact on consumers, trade and industry; 
 
• the sectors that benefit from and are affected by the regulations; 
 
• the costs and benefits in  monetary terms;  and 
 
• an analysis of the technical feasibility of ascertaining observance of the 
regulations, indicating the way in which the regulations are to be applied and 
the way they are to be verified. 
 
 (f) Harmonization:  In principle all technica l standards and regulations should be based 
on international standards or the relevant part s thereof.  Nevertheless, in keeping with 
the terms of the international agreements and treaties it has concluded, Mexico may 
issue technical standards or regulations th at have no equivalent or basis in the 
corresponding international standards, provi ded those standards do not constitute an 
effective or suitable means to achieve th e legitimate objective sought, for example, 
because of fundamental climatic, geographical, technological or infrastructural factors;  for scientifically proven reasons that make it necessary, or because a level of protection deemed adequate cannot be obtained. 
 
 (g) Review:  All technical standards and regula tions in force in Mexico must be reviewed 
at least once every five years to determin e whether they are obsolete or have been 
overtaken by technology, whether they are c onsistent with international standards or, 
in general, whether the standard requires so me adjustment or shoul d be revoked in the 
interests of regulatory improvement.   
 G/TBT/W/248 
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 III. OTHER ELEMENTS OF GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICE 
6. The LFMN and the Regulations thereto establish other provisions that represent good 
regulatory practice at the national le vel and they are described below. 
 (a) Performance standards. 
 
  Generally speaking, Mexico prepares technical standards and regulations known 
internationally as "performance standards".  Th is has enabled the country to regulate by 
objectives and not by sectors, thereby avoiding the preparation of regulations which make it 
impossible for a particular sector to comply  with the requirements.  As an obvious 
consequence, performance standards mean accelerated technological development and 
unrestricted trade. 
  (b) Authorization of alternative methods.  
 Under Mexican law, the corresponding authority authorizes the use or application of 
materials, equipment, processes, test methods , mechanisms, procedures or technologies that 
are alternatives to those provided for in the technical regulations, provided the applicant demonstrates that, with the alternative in qu estion, the purposes of the technical regulations 
are complied with.  This makes for flexibility in complying with the regulations, even though 
the regulations have been prepared in order to regulate the character istics of a product or 
process. 
 
 (c) Coordination between competent authorities.  
 Mexican law seeks to prevent scattered re gulations and isolated application by 
requiring coordination between the competent aut horities in regulating a particular product or 
process, so that private individuals can become  acquainted with the requirements regarding a 
specific product by consulting one single set of re gulations (for example, safety requirements, 
energy efficiency and environmental protection in the case of a refrigerator or air-conditioning system).  
7. Mexico hopes that this contribution will help to fo ster the debate on this important topic in the 
Committee and stands ready to explain in greater detail any of the elements contained in this 
communication. 
 
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