G/TBT/W/378  
17 March 2014  
(14-1683)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: Spanish  
 
  GOOD REGULATORY PRACTICE : THE MEXICAN EXPERIENCE 
 
The following communication, dated 17 March 2014, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Mexico. 
 
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 1.1.  Mexico has already shared with Members some of  the elements of good regulatory practice 
applied in Mexico (G/TBT/W/248, G/TBT/W/313, G/TBT/W/317 and JOB/TBT/30). In order 
to comply with the Sixth Triennial Review, however, Mexico wishes to highlight the elements 
contained in its regulatory framework. 
1.2.  Generally speaking, Mexico's Federal Law on Admi nistrative Procedures (LFPA) stipulates that 
the requirement for issuing a regulation is that all administrative acts of a general nature 
(draft primary legislation (bills or decrees) and draft secondary legislation (such as regulations, 
ministerial decisions, Mexican official standards, guidelines, manuals, and rules)) prepared by the 
departments and decentralized entities of the Fe deral Public Administration should undergo the 
Regulatory Improvement Process prior to their publication in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF), with the exception of fiscal matters, which are within the purview of civil servants, judicial matters concerning land and labour and the Office of the Public Prosecutor in the exercise 
of its constitutional functions, and acts, procedures and resolutions adopted by the Ministries 
of the Navy and National Defence. 
1.3.  The foregoing bears witness to the scope of the Mexican Government's Regulatory 
Improvement Policy, which applies to all regulations to be issued at federal level and also 
promotes the adoption of good regula tory practices at sub-federal level. 
1.4.  Specifically, the legal framework for the preparation of technical standards and regulations 
and conformity assessment procedures in Mexico is contained in the Federal Law on Metrology 
and Standardization (LFMN) and its implementing regulations.
1 The LFMN establishes uniform 
procedures for preparing and amending technical standards or regulations, regardless of whether 
they relate to goods, processes or services. The LFMN thus provides for the principles contained 
in the document drafted by the Secretariat, as set forth below: 
a. Transparency and public consultation : When technical standards or regulations are 
being prepared or amended, any interested party may become acquainted with the 
content of all the relevant documents (drafts, etc. and final document) throughout the 
process. The related obligations are the following: 
i. The National Standardization Programme, which includes all the subjects 
to be covered by technical standards or regulations, must be issued on an annual 
basis. This Programme is published in the DOF and notified to the bodies indicated in the international agreements concluded by Mexico (the WTO Central Registry of Notifications, for example); 
ii. Draft technical standards and regulations must be published in the DOF for 
consultation by the public for a period of 60 days, and their publication is notified 
                                               
1 Published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 1 July 1992. Its implementing regulations were 
published in the same journal on 14 January 1999. G/TBT/W/378 
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  to the bodies indicated in the international agreements concluded by Mexico, 
such as the WTO Committees; 
iii. Draft technical standards or regulations ar e subject to the Regulatory Improvement 
Process (PMR). This consists in posting the draft regulation and its "Regulatory 
Impact Assessment" (MIR)2 on the portal of the Fede ral Regulatory Improvement 
Commission (COFEMER)3, thus ensuring transparency in its preparation. Moreover, 
the PMR allows comments from interested private individuals and takes them into 
account when analysing the regulation. Another element of the PMR is the review 
by COFEMER of the regulation to be issued, in order to ascertain whether it produces above-cost benefits and is of maximum benefit to society. The PMR is conducted in parallel with the standardization process in Mexico and is mandatory because, 
although the COFEMER's recommendations ar e not binding, the LFPA requires the 
regulatory authority to submit the final decision reached by COFEMER
4 before the 
definitive publication of the standard in the DOF can take place. It should 
be emphasized that this process does not apply solely to technical regulations, 
but as mentioned earlier, encompasses any regulatory instrument due to be issued by the Federal Government, not counting the exceptions stipulated in the Law itself; 
iv. Replies to comments received during the public consultation period must 
be published in the DOF; 
v. The definitive version of the technical st andard or regulation must be published 
in the DOF and, where appropriate, notified  to the bodies indicated in international 
agreements concluded by Mexico (e.g. the WTO Central Registry of Notifications, 
United States and Canadian contact points under NAFTA); 
vi. A period of not less than 60 calendar days following the date of publication in the 
DOF must be allowed for the entry into force of technical standards and regulations. 
b. Internal coordination : Mexican law seeks to prevent scattered regulations and isolated 
application by requiring coordination between the competent authorities in regulating 
a particular product or process, so that private individuals can become acquainted with 
the requirements regarding a specific product by consulting a single set of regulations. One example of the foregoing is the safe ty, energy efficiency and environmental 
protection requirements in the case of a refrigerator or air-conditioning system. 
The LFMN also establishes the way in which departments participate in the preparation 
of standards, technical regulations and conf ormity assessment procedures within their 
respective spheres of authority. 
c. Analysis and evaluation : In Mexico, every technical regulation is subject 
to a comprehensive analytical and evaluation procedure under the Regulatory Impact Assessment (MIR). The MIR is an instrument that makes government decisions more 
transparent so that regulations are simple, clear and practical; minimize market 
distortion; are consistent with the legal framework; do not fall outside or run counter to the legislation in force; produce above-cost benefits; and are prepared jointly with the sectors involved. COMEFER is the authority responsible for conducting the Regulatory 
Improvement Process and for implementing an d disseminating good regulatory practices 
in Mexico. The relevant departments are required to prepare a preliminary draft regulation, which is then examined by CO FEMER where it meets one of the following 
                                               
2 The MIR is based on the Federal Law on Administra tive Procedures and the Federal Law on Metrology 
and Standardization and its implementing regulations. 
3 COFEMER is a decentralized body attached to the Ministry of the Economy, whose mandate 
is to promote transparency in the pr eparation and application of  regulations, and to ensure that they produce 
above-cost benefits and are of maximum benefit to society. http://www.cofemer.gob.mx . 
4 LFPA, Art. 69L. G/TBT/W/378 
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  prerequisites for the issuing of regulations, as set forth in Article 3 of the Regulatory 
Quality Agreement5: 
i. the regulation seeks to address an emergency situation; 
ii. in issuing the regulation, the department or decentralized entity meets one of the 
obligations established in the law, as well as in the regulation, decree, decision 
or other provision of a general nature issued by the head of the Federal Executive; 
iii. the regulation is in keeping with international commitments; 
iv. the regulation, due to its very nature, is issued or updated periodically; 
v. the benefits produced by the regulation, in terms, inter alia , of competitiveness 
and efficient functioning of the markets, exceed the costs of compliance therewith 
by private individuals; or 
vi. the regulation concerns operating rules for programmes implemented pursuant 
to the Federal Expenditure Budget for the relevant fiscal year. 
d. Review : All technical standards and regulations 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 need to be harmonized with international standards or, in general, whether the standard or technical regulation requires some 
adjustment or should be revoked in the interests of regulatory improvement. 
Where it is determined that a regulation must be amended or it is deemed necessary to issue a new standard, the Regulatory Improvement Process is repeated. 
e. Cooperation : Mexico has been very active and ha s become a reference point in this 
area. Together with the United States and Canada, it submitted document G/TBT/W/313, 
which clearly explains how regulatory cooperation takes place. Through COFEMER, Mexico recently put forward a proposal to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 
forum concerning a project aimed at identifying the most common methods 
and methodologies used to evaluate the impa ct of regulations, as part of a wider 
strategy to promote a more efficient func tioning of economies, marked by greater 
openness, transparency and competition. Th e project was carried out over the course 
of three workshops held in Mexico City during 2013, with the participation of 15 APEC economies: Australia*, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand*
6, 
Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, United States*, 
Vietnam, and Mexico. The outcome of this pr oject is the Regulatory Impact Evaluation 
Guide. Mexico has sought to promote cooper ation and the exchange of experiences with 
regulatory improvement practices and wishes to share this Guide developed in the APEC 
framework with WTO Members. The Guide is an endeavour by Mexico and several APEC 
economies to provide the necessary tools for economies to evaluate and develop regulations that promote market efficiency, ease of doing business and better conditions 
for citizens. It consists of two volumes, na mely Volume I (Methods and Methodologies) 
and Volume II (Case Studies). The Guide is available in English and Spanish and can be downloaded from the following links: 
Regulatory Impact Evaluation Guide, Vol. I: 
http://www.cofemermir.gob.mx/mir/docume ntos/Vol%20I.%20Metodos%20y%20Metod
ologias_26112013_Español.pdf   
 
                                               
5 The Regulatory Quality Agreement was published in the DOF on 2 February 2007. Pursuant 
to its Article 1, the object of the Agreement is to es tablish the regulatory quality guidelines to be followed 
by the departments and decentralized en tities of the Federal Public Admini stration in regard to the issuing 
of regulations which entail compliance costs to priv ate individuals and which are hence subject to the 
regulatory improvement process laid down in Title Thre e A of the Federal Law on Administrative Procedures. 
6 *Australia, New Zealand and the United  States participated as experts. G/TBT/W/378 
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  Regulatory Impact Evaluation Guide, Vol. II: 
http://www.cofemermir.gob.mx/mir/docume ntos/Casos%20Vol%20%202%20español_2
6112013.pdf   
 
Regulatory Impact Evaluation Guide, Vol. I: 
http://www.cofemermir.gob.mx/mir/docu mentos/Ingles_Guide_Vol%201_26112013.pdf   
 
Regulatory Impact Evaluation Guide, Vol. II: 
http://www.cofemermir.gob.mx/mir/docume ntos/Ingles_Vol%20%202_Case%20Estudie
s_26112013.pdf  
 
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