The Ministry of Economy of Mexico approved the Agreement that modifies the General Rules and Criteria towards the Foreign Trade on September 25, 2020. This Agreement became effective from October 1, 2020. The provisions of the Agreement can be divided into two main subjects:

• Modifications in labeling requirements for prepackaged food and non-alcoholic beverages and the customs clearance procedure.
• Unification of the requirements to the national and import products with regard to their compliance to NOM standards.

According to the Quality Infrastructure Law if national products are subject to a certain Official Mexican Norm or the Standards, the same requirements must be applied to similar imported products within the provisions of the Foreign Trade Law. The evidence of compliance with the Official Mexican Norms depends on the applicable Evaluation Procedure and can be in the form of certificates, opinions, or test results from the relevant accredited Conformity Assessment Body or from a foreign third party with a valid mutual recognition agreement or similar document.

Among the products that require NOM approval, there are such soft goods as:

• Textiles, clothing items and their accessories, and home clothes made of textile materials
• Footwear
• Natural leather and tanned hides, synthetic materials, and items made from them

These categories of products must meet the labeling requirements of NOM-004-SCFI-2006 and NOM-020-SCFI-1997 respectively.

Please, note that in any case the information on the product must be in Spanish. This measure helps to ensure that the user understands information and warnings on the product correctly.

If it is not possible to determine labeling standards requirements for the category of the product, the manufacturer should use provisions of NOM-050-SCFI when establishing commercial information for consumers.

In general, this standard requires from importer to provide the following information:

• Product name
• Quantity
• Name or business name and address of the manufacturer or importer
• Country of origin
• Hazard warning
• Instructions for use
• Expiration date or "Best before"

The information has been prepared by the GMA Consult Group team. GMA Consult Group provides a full cycle of international type approval and global market access services for IT, Telecom, and industrial electrical products in all countries throughout the world. With proven expertise in worldwide regulations, compliance, certification, and conformity assessment, GMA Consult Group can help your company speed up the access to any market with almost zero efforts from your side.

Need your own guide to the world of certification and approvals? Don't hesitate to contact us via info@gma.trade.

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