Mexico’s President Halts NOM 236

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced during today’s morning press conference that he would hold back the implementation of NOM 236 until he approves it. On May 3, 2022, NOM 236 was published by the Ministry of Economy to establish the criteria to evaluate the physical and mechanical conditions of light vehicles to determine if they can securely circulate.

“The NOM 236 is a progress because Mexico was lagging in the inspection of vehicles. Mexico is the 16th global economy and has a similar position in light vehicle commercialization. It is unfortunate that we did not have a regulation to verify the physical and mechanical conditions of vehicles in circulation,” said Guillermo Rosales, President, AMDA, when the norm was published. “Users will have the confidence that vehicles circulating in the streets are not putting their lives at risk. This will help to reduce mortality and health problems.”

However, the future of NOM 236 is uncertain after today’s announcement. “I did not have knowledge of the implementation of the norm. There are decisions that Ministries take without consulting them. We are trying to discuss everything that affects the popular economy,” said López Obrador.

NOM 236 would have implemented an inspection four years after the sale of a new vehicle for private use, which would be followed by biennial inspections. After 10 years, vehicles would have been inspected yearly, while vehicles used intensively would have been checked yearly after sale. This norm would have applied to both vehicles sold in Mexico and those imported. The vehicle inspections would have cost about MX$900 (US$44.9) and evaluated exterior and interior conditioning, lighting, braking, direction and suspension systems, transmission, motor and pipelines.

In 2004, the UN recognized the importance of addressing road safety issues and the WHO was recognized as the coordinator of safety road matters, which are a public health issue. Currently, Mexico is seventh place in deaths caused by automotive accidents in the world and in third place in Latin America, as reported by MBN.