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The competent Mexican authorities which regulate food and agricultural imports and/or require official U.S. export certificates include the Secretariat of Agriculture (SADER), Secretariat of Health (SALUD), Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), and the Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit (HACIENDA).

This document provides an overview of major Mexican agricultural and food-product laws and regulations, as well as related import standards and regulations. Some products may be subject to regulatory oversight by several different Government of Mexico (GOM) agencies. Post recommends that U.S. food and agricultural exporters work with experienced and established customs brokers and importers.

Even as Mexico's consumers face high core and food inflation, post sees both overall dairy production and imports rising in 2023. Mexico’s milk and cheese production is forecast to rise in 2023 due to increased investments in dairy operations in key producing areas.

On October 19, 2022, the Government of Mexico published a decree to temporarily exempt select importers from payment of import duties for certain goods and to facilitate administrative procedures as applied to the importation of select basic goods (mostly food items).

After a summer of Dutch farmer protests, a much-anticipated independent report was presented to the government and public on October 5, 2022. In it, the government-appointed independent facilitator and former politician, Johan Remkes, presented his findings from talks he held with the government, the Dutch agricultural sector, industry, nature organizations, and others.

On September 20, 2022, the Congress of the State of Mexico (one of Mexico’s 32 states) approved the Law for the Promotion and Protection of Local Corn Varieties. The law states that the Government of the State of Mexico will cooperate with Mexico's federal authorities to ensure that local corn varieties in the state are free of genetically engineered (GE) corn.

FAS-Mexico forecasts a nearly 6 percent decrease in sugar production to 6.16 million metric tons raw value (MMT-RV) during marketing year (MY) 2022/23 due to lower rainfall levels and higher input prices. Production for MY2021/22 increased by 8.2 percent to 6.56 MMT-RV, mainly driven by an abundance of rainfall during critical growing months, lower input costs, and historically high prices creating incentives to maintain planted area.

In 2021, exports of U.S. agricultural and related products to Mexico totaled $25.5 billion. In spite of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and logistical challenges, Mexico remained one of the most consistent markets for U.S. food and agricultural exports, especially for foodservice products. Mexico continued to maintain its open-door policy and welcomed 31.8 million international tourists in 2021, which boosted its hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) industries following a sharp decline in 2020.

On October 3, 2022, the Dutch government announced Mr. Piet Adema has been named the new Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality. Mr. Adema replaces Henk Staghouwer who resigned in September after he informed the Dutch Cabinet and Parliament about his Ministry’s delay in providing a plan for the future outlook of the Dutch agricultural sector and after he failed to obtain Brussels’ permission to continue to exceed caps on how much manure farmers can apply to their fields.

On October 3, 2022, the Office of the President of Mexico announced the Opening Agreement against Inflation and Scarcity (APECIC) between the Government of Mexico and fifteen private companies, aimed at combatting food price inflation. The agreement extends through February 2023 and pledges to reduce the prices of 24 basic goods (mostly food items) by eight percent.