Exchange on the new Mexican Quality Infrastructure Law

Mexico’s new Quality Infrastructure Law causes a lot of attention. On 23 September more than 1000 participants took part in the Virtual Discussion Forum about the law, organised by the Mexican Ministry of Economy and GPQI.

The new QI law brings many opportunities for the economy, but also new changes and challenges. These were discussed by high-level panellists representing the private sector and important QI institutions:

• Mr. Alfonso Guati Rojo, Director-General of the General Bureau of Standardisation (DGN) of the Mexican Ministry of Economy (SE);
• Mr. Francisco Reed, president of the Commission for Standardisation and Evaluation of Conformity of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN);
• Mr. Juan Manuel Rosales, President of the Mexican Council for Standardisation and Conformity (COMENOR);
• Mr. René Carranza, Director General of the Electrical Metrology Area of the National Metrology Centre (CENAM), and
• Ms. Viviana Fernández, Director General of the Mexican Institute for Standardisation and Certification (IMNC), who facilitated the panel discussion.

What is new? The new law intends to lay the bases for trade and competitiveness. For many participants, the drafting of the ordinance to implement the law is an important step that is still pending. The ordinance will concretise decisive elements of the law and create more clarity for business. The panellists’ expertise helped to better evaluate the new law.

All panellists agreed that a joint effort is needed in order to consolidate an efficient QI system. It is necessary to commit to the promotion of study and educational programs about QI in collaboration with academic institutions, with the purpose of making the population aware of it.

One of the main changes that Mr. Guati Rojo emphasized that the new law seeks to acquire a relevant degree of coherence with the treaties that Mexico has in order to carry out more and better relations by aligning with international standards. This should facilitate trade both domestically and abroad. At the same time, it has become clear that the Mexican government, especially the Ministry of Economy (SE), will play a much stronger role in the QI system to set clearer rules and criteria according to the law.

Mr. Carranza emphasized that the Quality Infrastructure Law promotes the development of standards as a way to convey the transformation of knowledge and the adoption of technology into the productive sectors while encouraging a due respect to the public policy objectives like the protection of the environment and the human health.

In the following, Mr. Juan Manuel Rosales stated that the QI law sets a model that complements the efforts made in recent decades and aims to enhance and modernise the Mexican industry, which at the same time will promote economic development in Mexico.

Finally, Mr. Guati Rojo informed that on 25 September, Vice Minister Dr. Acevedo would officially establish the governmental working group to start the development process of the ordinance.

The Ministry of Economy (SE) is responsible for the preparation of the ordinance within a period of 12 months since the QI law entered into force on 30 August. In addition, it was announced that the launch of the Quality Infrastructure online platform (Plataforma Tecnológica Integral de Infraestructura de la Calidad) will be ready 6 months after the publication of the regulation. This is the next important step that will define the new QI system in Mexico.