Meeting Official Norms of Mexico (NOM) Compliance to Sell Products

To ensure the continuity of foreign trade operations in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate General for Standards (DGN) and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGCE), linked to the Ministry of Economy of Mexico, issued an official letter referring to the import of merchandise subject to compliance with the Official Norms of Mexico (NOM) at the point of entrance into Mexico.

The official statement from the Mexican government states that beginning March 27, 2020, imports of merchandise subject to NOM certification requirements can be released from Mexican customs as long as there is evidence that the importer has initiated the NOM process with a certification organization (CO). Customs will be accepting application forms with an assigned reference number by a CO or inspection unit (IU) along with the commercial information.

The DGN indicates that if the certification process is not completed properly, the assigned reference number cannot be used for imports and the authorities will take the corresponding measures for penalty.

What does this mean?

Importers of products subject to NOM approval who have initiated the process on or after March 27 must submit a completed and signed certification application form to the CO or IU including the following information:

• Name of importer
• Importer tax ID number
• NOM standard
• Product name
• Brand name
• Model(s)
• Country of origin
• Input ratings

The CO or IU will register the assigned reference number in the DGN database. Once registered with DGN, the CO will provide this number and a copy of the registration screen by email, a process similar to the certificate of conformity registration. This statement is similar to the new rule in Annex 2.4.1 issued in 2019.

Important: The assigned reference number needs to be entered in the import request, and importers must submit it to Customs.

This alternate path for showing the NOM certificate will be valid until the Mexican government notifies the suspension of this measure or the NOM certificate is issued by the corresponding CO, whichever comes first.

Once the notification of suspension is issued by the Mexican government, the product must comply with all applicable NOMs before importation.

How we can help

As a provider of essential services, UL remains open for business. However, we’ve put into place modified working arrangements to comply with these orders and under guidance from public health officials to help keep our employees, customers and communities safe as we continue to deliver these critical services.

Please know that business continuity is a top priority for our team, and our experts are available to help you reduce disruption in Mexico market access. We can:

• Issue NOM certificates
• Support testing and issue NOM test reports in many UL global locations, where allowed
• Assist in the deviated process noted above, where full in-country testing is required and where the CO is closed, specifically IFT and CONUEE

Stay healthy. Stay safe