New Mexican Regulation (NOM) on Maximum Weight and Measures for Trucks and Buses

On April 1, 2008 the new Official Mexican Norm (NOM) governing maximum weights and measures for vehicles operating onfederal highways was published in the Official Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación). The purpose of the newregulation is to decrease the maximum weights and measures applicable to vehicles in transit on federal roads and bridges in order toavoid accelerated deterioration and decrease highway accidents. In addition, the regulation seeks to harmonize weights andmeasures applicable in Mexico with those currently in force in Canada and the United States. In publishing the new NOM, theFederal Department of Transportation attempted to negotiate with and arrive at a consensus with all sectors of the Mexican transportation industry and Federal Transportation Chamber; however, since the intent of the NOM is to limit the practice ofoverloading or transporting cargo in equipment exceeding maximum dimensions, substantial opposition was expected. It is possiblethat the Mexican federal government, through the Department of Communications and Transportation (Secretaria deComunicaciones y Transportes or SCT) decided to publish the new NOM without further consultations. The new NOM provides aterm of six months to bring current equipment and practices into compliance with the new requirements. This has resulted in aconflict with the transportation industry, and industry participants have filed a massive amount of amparo protest lawsuits against thenew NOM, which cases will need to be decided by competent Mexican courts.