The Mexican order wants NOM: what the quote may say, what the contract must not lock

The RFQ adds “NOM required, include in unit price.” Sales attaches CE and UL and writes “saleable in Mexico” on the PI. Legal has not seen the draft. The lead time is already in the contract. Finance asks which cell holds the official NOM fee. Those four moves land on the same afternoon, and they break in the same place: the quote turned a path into a delivery condition, while the port still wants the Mexican importer to hold papers that match an Official Mexican Standard.

How Brazil checks the regulated list sits on INMETRO. How a radio ID is used sits on FCC. What stalls a Mexican order is not “whether a lab exists.” It is a quote promise, a locked contract line, and a port file that do not match. The order below is: match the number, name the people, then rewrite the contract. Sales can quote from it, legal can edit the draft, and documents can collect the fields on the same day.

Match the NOM number on SINEC first

A NOM is an Official Mexican Standard under the Quality Infrastructure Law (Ley de Infraestructura de la Calidad). It has force. An NMX is a voluntary Mexican standard. When a buyer asks for NOM out loud, look the unit up on SINEC before you quote. Electrical safety, energy, ICT goods and other categories sit on different numbers. If you cannot verify a number, do not write NOM certified on the showcase, the PI or the contract.

The Economy Ministry describes conformity assessment as a technical process. Sampling, testing, inspection, evaluation and certification are used to show that a product, process or service meets an Official Mexican Standard, another standard or an international standard. The body that does this work is accredited by an accreditation entity and approved by the competent normalizing authority. A Hong Kong seller, a freight forwarder and an Alibaba.com storefront do not appear on that list by opening an account. The same page keeps accreditation entities, conformity-assessment bodies, the prices those bodies must publish, international recognition arrangements, and the entry-and-exit NOM annex on separate tracks. Sales opens that page to see who is allowed to assess and who publishes a price. It is not a site-wide official fee table to copy into the contract.

Do not search SINEC for the three letters “NOM” and stop. Bring these four items so “Mexico complete package” can be split into a number you can check:

1. Name: write the Chinese shipping name, the English RFQ name and the Spanish invoice name as three lines. A luminaire, a power adaptor, a display and a fan are not the same catalogue entry. Retitling a luminaire report for an adaptor fails when the standard number is checked at performance.
2. Rated voltage: copy the nameplate. Do not guess a “usual Mexican voltage” on the phone. Voltage, frequency or rated power can move the applicable entry. Two power boards in the same shell are two lookups.
3. Radio: if the unit has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular or a radio remote, do not put it in the same “already certified” sentence as plain electrical safety. A United States FCC grant does not fill the Official Mexican Standard box.
4. HS hint: use the expected tariff as a search hint, not as a NOM number. The tariff narrows the category. The standard that applies is still the NOM line on SINEC.

When you have a number, write it into an internal memo and into the lab enquiry: name, model, nameplate voltage, radio yes or no, the NOM from SINEC, and the scope in the catalogue’s own words. Do not write “Mexico complete package included.” A plant that shipped to Mexico last year does not prove this year’s new model sits on the same line. A trading company that consolidates lots cannot cover three workshops with one old number.

SINEC will also show NMX entries. An NMX in the results means a voluntary Mexican standard exists. It does not mean the port will take that report as a mandatory NOM. If you still attach an NMX, mark it “voluntary” and keep it out of the same “already complies” sentence as a mandatory NOM. The delete table later in this page shows the contract line to cut.

If SINEC returns more than one NOM, do not pick the line that “looks closer” and put it on the PI. Send the candidate numbers, the catalogue scope in its own words, and the name, voltage, radio flag and tariff hint you used. Ask the buyer which line their purchasing specification wants. If they cannot name a number, leave the box “to be confirmed.” Do not choose a line to fill the cell. If a catalogue entry has been revised or replaced, the internal memo records which title you opened; the number you use is still the one that can be verified on the catalogue that day.

If the lookup still does not yield a number, sales replies: we searched SINEC with the name, voltage, radio flag and tariff hint; there is no verifiable NOM number yet; until a number is confirmed, the quote and the PI will not say certified. Do not switch to “our factory already passed.” Do not let an intermediary park a “Latin America certificate” as a placeholder.

Who applies to the approved body, who is the importer at the port

Conformity assessment is done by an accredited and approved body: testing, certification or verification against that NOM. The applicant, the name on the paper, and the importer at the port are often three different people. A Hong Kong company that signs the sales contract does not automatically become any of them. Membership buys showcases. Wire it to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. That payment does not issue a Ministry paper and does not make the seller the importer.

The Economy Ministry states that accreditation entities are authorized by the Ministry to handle applications from those who want to operate as conformity-assessment bodies. A conformity-assessment body needs both the accreditation and the approval of the competent normalizing authority before it can check that a product meets a given Official Mexican Standard. The Quality Infrastructure Law also requires those entities and bodies to publish the prices of the services they provide. That is why there is no site-wide official NOM fee to lock into the goods price. Bodies quote by model and by project.

Leave Importer / IOR blank or named by the buyer. That is safer than writing your own company into the box. A supplier’s plant-wide “NOM passed” sheet will not cover a new model or a new factory. If the name on the paper is a mainland plant, the seller on the contract is the Hong Kong company, and the importer at the port is a local company the buyer names, write those three lines as three lines. Do not paste “we handle all Mexican certification” over them.

Who files with the approved body follows the contract, not the storefront. Pick one of three patterns before you quote, and do not mix them: the Mexican importer named by the buyer files as applicant; the manufacturer files as applicant and the importer only holds a port copy; the trading seller only supplies model and lot data, and both the applicant and the importer are arranged by the buyer. Put the chosen pattern in a contract annex. Do not put it in the unit-price remark.

If the importer is not named yet and the contract must still be signed, put this on a side letter in full sentences: The Mexican importer under this contract will be named by the buyer in writing before shipment. Until that name arrives, the seller is not the importer and will not present at the port the conformity papers an importer must hold. After the buyer names the person, the seller will put that name in the documents’ importer box, or write “buyer to name” until the name arrives. Do not put the Hong Kong company in the main contract and plan to change it orally at shipment.

Corpable does not act as the Mexican importer and does not file with an approved body. An advisor can sit with sales and legal to match the SINEC number, split the quote sentences and cut the locked lines. Membership still wires to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. That transfer buys a showcase. It does not buy Official Mexican Standard assessment.

Sentences the quote may use, lines the contract must delete

When sales answers a Mexican enquiry, use only the three full sentences below. You may insert the model name. Do not add “already certified,” “official fee included,” or “seller is the importer.”

1. In-scope products are assessed against Official Mexican Standards by an accredited and approved body; we will confirm the NOM number for this unit.
2. Papers follow a verifiable number. Until then the showcase and the PI will not say certified.
3. Import papers sit with the Mexican importer named in the contract. Opening an Alibaba.com store does not replace that person.

The first sentence promises a path only: Official Mexican Standards, an accredited and approved body, and a number matched to this unit. It does not promise that the number already exists, and it does not make the Hong Kong seller the applicant. The second sentence sets “verifiable” as the gate for delivery papers: the line must match SINEC and the body name must match before it goes on a replacement PI. The third sentence pins port possession on the Mexican importer, so purchasing cannot treat the storefront as the importer.

The three sentences can go into the RFQ reply as they stand. Add two fact lines in front: thank you for RFQ [number]; the unit is [model], nameplate voltage [ ], radio [yes / no]. Do not add “certificate in three days” or “official fee already in the unit price.” If they ask how much, reply: conformity assessment is quoted by an accredited and approved body for this unit; those bodies publish their own service prices under the Quality Infrastructure Law; we have no site-wide official price to copy into the goods price. If the buyer has a named body, they should name it in writing.

If the draft contract contains any line in the left column, legal deletes it or rewrites it to the middle column the same day. Leave it, and the next mail will ask for an invoice, a certificate and the importer’s tax number that the seller cannot produce.

The unit-price remark holds the goods name, quantity, Incoterm and payment only. Assessment sits on a separate quote that says “issued by an approved body for this unit; the price follows that body’s published or written quote.” The Quality Infrastructure Law requires bodies to publish their service prices. That is not a site-wide official table you can copy into the contract. Lock “official NOM fee” into the goods price, and the buyer will treat it as a delivery condition and ask for the bill.

Goods descriptions on the letter of credit and the proforma invoice must not say “NOM certified” or “including official Mexican certification.” Write the model, the quantity, the confirmed NOM number if you have one, or write “NOM number to be confirmed against SINEC; not certified until a verifiable number exists.” A bank checker will not look the line up on SINEC for you. One extra “certified” becomes a discrepancy at presentation.

Where CE or UL fails when sent as NOM

CE is European Union conformity. The manufacturer assesses against the applicable directives, builds the technical file, signs the declaration, and the Union does not sell a central certificate that licenses the mark. UL is one United States workplace-recognition path. The Economy Ministry path wants an assessment against that NOM, made by an approved body. Technical files may go to that body as homework. Send them as the delivery annex, and the buyer or the broker’s next question is the NOM number and the importer’s name.

Walk the breakpoints before sales sends a scan:

1. The standard number is blank. The cover says Mexico or Latin America; the body still cites a low-voltage directive or a UL standard. SINEC will not match.
2. The body is not on the approved list. Letterhead from an intermediary, a translation-company stamp, or the words “accredited lab” without Mexican normalizing-authority approval will not fill the Ministry column.
3. The name on the paper does not match the importer. The report is headed by a mainland plant or the Hong Kong seller; the port wants papers held by the Mexican importer; no contract line explains the relationship.
4. The lot does not match the invoice. The report is last year’s sample; the bill of lading and the invoice are this container’s new lot. The broker treats it as missing.

Do not commission a “Latin America certificate” mash-up. Brazil starts with a regulated list on INMETRO. United States radio sits on its own grant on FCC. How the Union declaration is written sits on CE. How a United States workplace mark is read sits on UL. Those four files may travel in the same bag as homework for an approved body. They must not share one sentence that says “NOM is satisfied.”

If the buyer writes “your CE is enough, we use it as NOM,” do not accept that line in the contract. Reply: CE and UL are other-jurisdiction paths; Official Mexican Standards are assessed by an accredited and approved body against a specific NOM number; we will treat CE and UL as homework, not as NOM delivery papers. Put that sentence in the mail and in the contract-amendment log. Do not leave it only in chat.

Energy, ICT and radio do not share one certified sentence

One NOM addresses one class of risk. Energy, electrical safety and ICT goods may each need a number. Write “Mexican certification complete” as one phrase, and the next mail will ask for the energy number, the electrical-safety number and the ICT number separately. Sales then has to split the sentence after the fact.

Lab and legal enquiries go out by standard number. Do not quote a single “Mexico bundle”:

• Electrical safety: match the electrical-safety NOM on SINEC using nameplate voltage, insulation class and use environment. That report covers this class of risk only.
• Energy: motors, luminaires, power supplies and air-conditioners often sit on a separate energy Official Mexican Standard. An energy number will not stand in for an electrical-safety number, and the reverse will not either.
• ICT: displays, adaptors and information-technology equipment are not the same catalogue line as a luminaire or a fan. If the model suffix changes, look the number up again.
• Radio: if the unit transmits, do not put it in the same “already certified” sentence as the three lines above. An FCC ID proves a United States radio grant. It is not Official Mexican Standard assessment.

Showcase parameters and PI descriptions split the same way. Electrical safety carries the electrical-safety number if you have one. Energy carries the energy number if you have one. ICT carries the ICT number if you have one. Radio sits on its own line: “radio path still to match.” If any column still lacks a verifiable number, leave that column blank or write “to be confirmed.” Do not borrow another column’s number to fill the gap.

If an NMX appears in an energy or ICT search, it is still a voluntary Mexican standard. When you attach it, write: this NMX report is a voluntary Mexican standard and does not constitute conformity with an Official Mexican Standard (NOM) under the Quality Infrastructure Law. Do not let a translator render NMX as “Official Mexican Standard.”

Correct a PI that already said certified, and the document fields this week

If the PI already says NOM certified, send a correction the same day. Void the old page. List the NOM still to confirm and the importer still to name. WeChat or WhatsApp is not a correction. Banks, trade-assurance desks and the buyer’s counsel read a voided page plus a replacement page. They do not read “we do not actually have the paper yet” in a chat thread.

The correction letter uses full sentences. Do not send a revision number alone. Send the block below and replace the brackets with this order’s fields:

Dear Sir or Madam: The proforma invoice [PI number] and the phrases “NOM certified,” “saleable in Mexico” and “official NOM fee included” on that page are void from the time of this letter. They are no longer a delivery condition or a payment condition. In-scope products will be assessed against Official Mexican Standards under the Quality Infrastructure Law by an accredited and approved body. The NOM number will follow the entry that can be verified on SINEC. That box is still open. Papers required for port clearance sit with the Mexican importer named in the contract. The Hong Kong seller and the Alibaba.com storefront do not become the importer by reason of this sale. ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED, the membership payee, does not issue a NOM. Please use this letter and replacement page [new PI number]. Any CE, UL, FCC or NMX report attached is homework only: NMX is a voluntary Mexican standard; CE, UL and FCC are other-jurisdiction paths; none of them equals NOM.

On the replacement page, delete certified, saleable in Mexico and official fee included from the goods description. Write the model, the quantity, the Incoterm, and either “NOM number to be verified on SINEC” or the one number you have already verified. The importer box holds the name the buyer designates, or the words “buyer to name.” The applicant box holds a name if you have one, or “to be confirmed.” Do not put the Hong Kong storefront name in that box to fill the space.

Documents collect the six fields below before shipment. If one field is missing, the showcase does not say saleable in Mexico and the PI does not restore certified:

Who fills the six fields goes on one check sheet before shipment, so sales does not write a model while documents write a showcase short title. Sales fills the model and whether the unit transmits. Legal fills the applicant, the importer or “buyer to name,” and which of the three filing patterns sits in the annex. Documents fill the NOM number, the body name and the lot that matches the invoice. If anyone writes “whole plant passed” or “Mexico package,” change it back to a line the table allows.

Beside those six fields, the deal file keeps two open-and-check notes: the SINEC search that day—name, voltage, radio, tariff hint and any hit—and an extract showing the named body is accredited and approved on the Economy Ministry conformity-assessment page. Each note records the date and the person who opened the page, so sales can retell the search if the buyer or the bank asks. Those notes are not themselves assessment papers. If there is no hit, keep the “no hit” note. Do not add an intermediary cover to fill the gap.

Until those six fields are in, finance does not book a round “official NOM fee.” When the body quotes, book that body’s written figure and keep the quote. What customs asks for follows the port on that day. Do not write a penalty figure into the contract as a quote, and do not write one into the correction letter to frighten the buyer.

After the buyer already forwarded a “NOM available” screenshot

If the showcase, an RFQ reply or a chat already sent “NOM available,” the buyer will file the screenshot in their purchasing folder. Without a verifiable number, that image is a delivery promise. Sales does three things the same day: take the line off the showcase or rewrite it; void any PI already sent, using the correction letter above; and send the buyer a stand-alone mail. A one-line chat note that says “the system auto-filled that” is not enough.

The stand-alone mail can read: Thank you for forwarding the screenshot. That image is not proof that Official Mexican Standard assessment is complete. We have searched SINEC by name, voltage, radio flag and tariff hint. There is no verifiable NOM number yet. In-scope products will be assessed on the Economy Ministry conformity-assessment path by an accredited and approved body. Numbers will follow what can be verified. Port papers sit with the Mexican importer named in the contract. Please use today’s correction letter and replacement page. The words “NOM available” on the screenshot are withdrawn.

If the screenshot came from a supplier or an intermediary rather than from your storefront, disconnect it in writing: that image is not an assessment paper issued by the Hong Kong seller and does not constitute a NOM promise under this contract. We accept only a number that matches SINEC and a paper issued against that number by an approved body. Do not forward someone else’s screenshot to the next buyer in order to “lock the order first.”

If purchasing says “the screenshot already went to the boss, we cannot change it,” still send the correction. The boss will ask for papers that exist at delivery. A screenshot can hold an intention. It cannot hold a port. If the contract already says “as per seller’s NOM available statement,” rewrite that line to the path sentence in the delete table and attach the correction-letter number.

When the goods are already sailing and the papers still do not match a number

If the goods are already on the water, send matching assessment papers only. Do not invent a NOM number. Do not hand the master account to an intermediary to “back-fill” a certificate. Matching means the model, the lot, and the applicant or importer boxes agree with the documents already at sea, the number can be checked on SINEC, and the body is an approved body. If they do not match, write the fact: this in-transit lot still has no Official Mexican Standard assessment paper. Let the buyer and the Mexican importer decide how the port will treat the file under the rules in force that day.

Four things not to do on an in-transit patch: retitle an expired sample report; swap a CE or UL cover for a Mexico cover; let an intermediary “issue a number now and swap the real one at arrival”; add “seller is importer” to a bill-of-lading clause. Those four moves scramble the Incoterm and the insurance chain, and the port still wants the Mexican importer to hold the matching file.

The in-transit note to the buyer and the importer uses full sentences: These goods were loaded on [sailing date] on [vessel / voyage], bill of lading [number]. At loading there was no NOM number that could be verified on SINEC. We can send existing CE, UL, FCC and voluntary NMX papers as homework for an approved body. We will not treat them as NOM. Please name the importer in writing. The Hong Kong seller is not the Mexican importer. The importer should decide, against the Economy Ministry’s current entry-and-exit NOM annex, which papers that person must hold at the port.

Finance does not raise an “official certification fee” invoice at this point to “square” the old PI. The certified line is already void. A new certification invoice would make the books accept the old promise. If a body quotes after arrival, keep that quote on its own paper and name the model and the lot. Corpable does not act as the Mexican importer, does not file with a body, and does not promise port release.

Questions teams actually ask

Related reading

• CE: how the declaration is written
• UL: how a US workplace mark is read
• INMETRO: start with the regulated list
• FCC: how to use a radio ID
• Contact Corpable · info@aliad.hk

Written by Corpable Marketing Limited for Alibaba.com Hong Kong-channel sellers. Not legal, tax, or audit advice. Platform, customs, bank, and auditor outcomes follow the latest official notices. Membership fees go to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. Corpable does not collect them.