RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1*
10May1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1232)
Committee onTrade-Related Investment Measures Original: Spanish
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 5.1OFTHE AGREEMENT
ONTRADE-RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES
Mexico
Revision
Thefollowing communication, dated 31March 1995, hasbeenreceived fromthePermanent
Mission ofMexico.
_______________
Ihereby havethehonour ofnotifying various legislative instruments onwhich themeasures
described below arebased, foreachofwhich theformat isfollowed asrecommended fornotifications
under Article 5.1oftheAgreement onTrade-Related Investment Measures (Agreement onTRIMs):
- automotive industry; and
- autotransportation vehicles.
Notification ofthese legislative instruments ismade forthepurposes ofArticle 5,
paragraphs 1to5,oftheAgreement onTrade-Related Investment Measures, without prejudice tothe
compatibility oftheabove instruments withtheTRIMs Agreement and/or GATT 1994, andwithout
prejudice totherights andobligations ofMexico under GATT 1994 and/or theTRIMs Agreement.
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
1. Category intheillustrative listunder which themeasure falls
Itisuncertain whether thevarious provisions oftheDecree forDevelopment andModernization
oftheAutomotive Industry (hereinafter called the"Auto Decree") fallwithin oneorvarious categories
oftheillustrative list,orarenotcovered byanyofthem. Thisisaquestion ofinterpretation thatis
notwithin thecompetence ofanyMember oftheWTO.
2. Whether theTRIM isapplied bythegovernment under discretionary authority ormandatory
legislation
TheAuto Decree isapplied asmandatory legislation.
*English only. Thisrevision isbeing circulated because theorder ofpages 3and4oftheEnglish version ofdocument
G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1 wasinadvertently reversed.G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1
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3. Whether theTRIM isgeneral innature
TheAuto Decree isgeneral innature since itapplies totheautomotive industry.
Inaccordance withtheAuto Decree, theautomotive industry isunderstood asconsisting of
allenterprises which make upthevehicle assembly andautoparts industries. Boththevehicle assembly
andtheautoparts industries aredefined inArticle 2.IVand2.VoftheDecree.
4. Whether themandatory legislation requires theTRIM tobeapplied tonewenterprises ornew
investments ofexisting enterprises
TheAuto Decree applies totheautomotive industry, without specifying whether itconcerns
newenterprises ornewinvestments.
5. Whether compliance withthemeasure bytheenterprise is(a)mandatory orenforceable under
domestic laworadministrative rulings or(b)necessary toobtain anadvantage
TheAutoDecree contains twotypes ofprovisions. Under thesecond ofthese, theadvantage
consists ofbeing abletosupplement theenterprise 'ssupply ofvehicles onthenational market by
importing newvehicles.
6. Whether theTRIM relates tospecific products
TheAuto Decree doesnotrefertospecific products.
7. Thedateofimplementation oftheTRIM
TheAuto Decree came intoforce on15June1990.
8. Whether theTRIM includes provision foritsphasing-down and/or elimination
TheAuto Decree doesnotinclude provision foritsphasing-down and/or elimination. The
adjustments provided forinArticle 12.Iand12.II havealready beeneffected.
9. Submission totheSecretariat ofthedomestic law,regulation oradministrative guideline under
which theTRIM isapplied**
Thefollowing areattached:
- acopyoftheDecree forDevelopment andModernization oftheAutomotive Industry,
published intheOfficial Journal oftheFederation on11December 1989(hereinafter
called the"Auto Decree") (Annex I);
- acopyoftheDecree reforming andsupplementing theAutoDecree, published inthe
Official Journal oftheFederation on8June1990 (Annex II);and
**CopiesofthesedocumentsareavailableforinspectionbyinteresteddelegationsintheSecretariat(Intellectual
Property andInvestment Division).G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1
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- acopy oftheResolution thatEstablishes Rules fortheImplementation ofthe
Auto Decree, published intheOfficial Journal oftheFederation on30November 1990
(Annex III).
10. Thelevelofgovernment applying theTRIM
Federal. TheMinistry ofTrade andIndustrial Development andtheInterministerial Automotive
Industry Commission.
Note:
Forpurely information purposes, itisnoted that,within thecontext oftheNorth American
FreeTrade Agreement (NAFTA), itwasagreed thatMexico canmaintain until1January 2004, the
provisions oftheAuto Decree anditsImplementing Regulations, eventhough theyareinconsistent
withtheabove Agreement, inaccordance withtheconditions setoutintheAgreement.
ItisalsosetoutintheNAFTA Agreement thatrequirements relating tonational added value
andtrade balance willbegradually reduced inaccordance withtheprovisions ofparagraphs 6,8and
12ofAppendix 300-A.2 (seedocument L/7176/Add.1).
TheNAFTA Agreement hasbeenpartofMexican legislation since 1January 1994.
AUTOTRANSPORTATION VEHICLES
1. Category intheillustrative listunder which themeasure falls
Itisuncertain whether theprovisions annexed totheDecree promulgating theNorth American
FreeTrade Agreement (hereinafter called the"Decree issuing provisions governing autotransportation
vehicles") fallwithin oneorvarious categories oftheillustrative list,orarenotcovered byanyof
them. Thisisaquestion ofinterpretation thatisnotwithin thecompetence ofanyMember oftheWTO.
2. Whether theTRIM isapplied bythegovernment under discretionary authority ormandatory
legislation
TheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles isapplied asmandatory
legislation.
3. Whether theTRIM isgeneral innature
TheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles isgeneral innature since
itapplies tomanufacturers ofautotransportation vehicles.
Inaccordance withtheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles, a
"manufacturer ofautotransportation vehicles" means anenterprise constituted ororganized under the
lawof,andoperating in,Mexico:
(a) thatisregistered withtheMinistry ofTrade andIndustrial Development (SECOFI);
(b) thatmanufactures autotransportation vehicles inMexico; andG/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1
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(c) where theenterprise 's:
(i) totalinvoice value ofsalesofautotransportation vehicles andautotransportation
parts thatitproduces inMexico; minus
(ii) totalinvoicevalueofsalesofautotransportationpartsthattheenterpriseimports
directly, plusthevalue oftheimport content ofautotransportation partsthat
itpurchases inMexico,
isequal toatleast40percentofitstotalinvoice value ofsalesofautotransportation
vehicles andautotransportation parts thatitproduces inMexico.
4. Whether themandatory legislation requires theTRIM tobeapplied tonewenterprises ornew
investments ofexisting enterprises
TheDecreeissuingprovisionsgoverningautotransportationvehiclesappliestoallmanufacturers
ofautotransportationvehicles,withoutspecifyingwhetheritconcernsnewenterprisesornewinvestments.
5. Whether compliance withthemeasure bytheenterprise is(a)mandatory orenforceable under
domestic laworadministrative rulings or(b)necessary toobtain anadvantage
TheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles contains twotypes of
provisions. Under thesecond type, theadvantage consists ofbeing abletosupplement anenterprise 's
supply ofautotransportation vehicles onthenational market byimporting suchvehicles.
6. Whether theTRIM relates tospecific products
TheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles doesnotrefertospecific
products.
7. Thedateofimplementation oftheTRIM
TheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles came intoforce on
1January 1994.
8. Whether theTRIM includes provision foritsphasing-down and/or elimination
Themeasures contained intheDecree issuing provisions governing autotransportation vehicles
willnotapply after31December 1998.
9. Submission totheSecretariat ofthedomestic law,regulation oradministrative guideline under
which theTRIM isapplied***
Thedefinitionisattachedofmanufacturersofautotransportationvehicles,aswellasparagraph22
ofAppendix 300-A.2 oftheDecree promulgating theNorth American FreeTrade Agreement, published
intheOfficial Journal oftheFederation on20December 1993.
***CopiesofthesedocumentsareavailableforinspectionbyinteresteddelegationsintheSecretariat(Intellectual
Property andInvestment Division).G/TRIMS/N/1/MEX/1/Rev.1
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10. Thelevelofgovernment applying theTRIM
Federal. TheMinistry ofTrade andIndustrial Development.