Keller Heckman (LexBlog Mexico)

As we have previously reported, in September 2020, Mexico and Canada signed a Statement of Intent (SOI), which expanded the countries’ partnership in dealing with food safety issues. Among other things, the 2020 SOI expanded the partnership to include all foods traded between the countries and encouraged the development and use of new technologies to...

Mexico’s Federal Consumer Attorney’s Office (PROFECO) and other Mexican agencies have recently agreed to provide the food industry with more flexibility to comply with requirements in the Official Mexican Standard NOM-051 (“NOM-051”) that become effective on April 1, 2021.  NOM-051 sets forth new warning labeling requirements for all prepackaged food and non-alcoholic beverages sold within Mexico.

On January 26, FDA placed all alcohol-based hand sanitizers from Mexico on a countrywide import alert in an effort to stop violative products from entering the US market until the Agency is able to review the products’ safety. See FDA’s Press Release. Under the import alert, FDA may detain shipments of the alcohol-based hand sanitizers...

The FDA and two Mexican regulatory agencies, the National Service of Agro-Alimentary Public Health Safety and Quality (SENASICA) and the Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS), have signed a statement of intent (SOI) that strengthens and expands upon their 2014 Produce SOI. The most recent SOI broadens the scope of the partnership...

New laws in several Mexican states will place a complete ban on the sale of food high in sugar to children, which will include harsh penalties on any sellers that disobey the directives including fines, and even jail time for repeat offenders. By way of example, in Tabasco, Mexico, there is now a prohibition of...

Protecting the online privacy of children by enforcing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) continues to be of paramount importance to federal and state regulators. In addition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), several state attorneys general (AGs) have brought COPPA actions recently, including the New Mexico and California AGs, and, most notably, the...

In response to the Mexican Council of the Consumer Products Industry’s (“ConMéxico”) request for the postponement of Official Mexican Standard NOM-051 (“NOM-051”), Mexican authorities have stated that food and beverage companies may use provisional stickers between October 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, which will help companies gradually comply with NOM-051.  NOM-051 sets forth a...

On February 11, 2020, Repres­entative Alan Lowenthal of California and  Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico introduced the “Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act of 2020.” The bill would enact nationwide extended producer responsibility for all packaging materials, minimum-recycled-content mandates for certain products, a national container deposit, single-use plastic product bans, a three-year pause

In late December 2019, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies’ voted in favor of a reform to the Ley de la Propiedad Industrial (“Industrial and Federal Property of Consumer Protection law”), which would make regulations on misleading advertising more stringent.  This prohibition will have an impact on plant-based alternatives that currently use dairy terms, such as “soymilk”...

On October 11, Mexico’s lower legislative house passed a bill that would require manufacturers to place front-of-pack (FOP) warning labels on food high in sugar, sodium, or saturated fat.  The bill was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (Mexico’s equivalent of the Federal Register) and consists of a draft amendment to the General Labelling Specifications for...

On May 14, 2018, two dozen U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to protect the use of common cheese names in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Spearheaded by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., the senators implored the administration to make sure that any new NAFTA deal is not hindered by...

As our readers are aware, sweetened beverage taxes have been in the spotlight for several years now. In November 2016, voters in three California cities and in Boulder, Colorado passed measures to tax sweetened beverages, and the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to impose a controversial soda tax (see our November 15, 2016 blog). However,...

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has regulatory authority over both the import and export of livestock products.  In the import context, APHIS works to ensure that products entering the U.S. meet the Agency’s entry requirements to exclude pests and diseases. In July 2014, USDA published...

As we predicted on this blog in November 2016, more jurisdictions have now followed the lead of cities like Berkeley, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland and Boulder by introducing legislation to tax sweetened beverages. However, these efforts are not always successful. On May 2, 2017, Santa Fe, New Mexico voters rejected a proposed tax of two...

As previously covered on this blog, a number of U.S. cities have implemented controversial taxes on soft drinks.  This trend appears poised to continue with an upcoming public hearing in Santa Fe, New Mexico concerning a proposed soft drink tax slated for March 8, 2017. Spearheaded by Santa Fe Mayor, Javier Gonzales, the proposed tax...

A recent World Health Organization (WHO) report supports the notion that taxing sugary foods and drinks could lead to a decrease in the consumption of such products and reduce obesity, type 2 diabetes, and tooth decay. A number of jurisdictions in the U.S. and abroad have implemented fiscal policy interventions – by way of taxes...

Federal judge tosses final claim in tomato farm’s lawsuit against FDA. (subscription to Law360 required) In June 2008, FDA mistakenly linked a multistate Salmonella outbreak to tomatoes and warned consumers about the potential dangers associated with the consumption of raw red tomatoes in New Mexico and Texas.  Federal and state officials struggled to track the actual...

DOJ indicates “illegal activity in the dietary supplement industry” as a high priority. The dietary supplement industry has had its share of negative publicity in 2015, ranging from the New York Attorney General’s investigation into allegedly mislabeled herbal products, to FDA enforcement actions against BMPEA and DMBA, to a recent facility shutdown.  In May 2015,...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced today that AT&T Services, Inc., will pay $25 million to resolve an investigation into whether the company violated Sections 201(b) and 222 of the Communications Act relating to consumer privacy at AT&T call centers in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines. According to the FCC’s order and consent decree, call...