Restrictions on the flow of goods between the nation's states

Mexico

Sinaloa State Government On January 6, 1995, the Commission began an ex officio investigation into the possible imposition of restrictions on the inflow of flowers from other states into the state of Sinaloa. The Commission had previously detected the Sinaloa state government's establishment of licenses, permits, and fitosanitary inspections for the introduction of flowers into its territory. The announcement was published on October 28, 1994 in a local newspaper.

According to the information provided by the regional office of the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development, the purpose of this measure was to minimize the external supply of flowers just before All Souls' Day (Nov. 2), when demand increases considerably. Sinaloa's Minister of Agricultural and Fishery Development based the state regulations on the need to comply with official Mexican standard NOM-EM-009Fito-1994, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Rural Development (SAGAR).

The Commission's investigations revealed that:

The official Mexican standard NOM-EM-009Fito-1994 did not apply in this case; it deals only with fitosanitary requirements for imports of cut flowers and fresh flora from Germany, Colombia, the Netherlands, France, the United States, and Costa Rica. There was no agreement with the SAGAR to support the inspections and fitosanitary certificates required by the state government.

Consequently, the Commission's Plenum ruled that fitosanitary control measures imposed by the Sinaloa state government were in breach of article 117, section V, of the Constitution. The measures hindered the entrance of merchandise into the state's territory -specifically, flowers from other states- without there being an applicable federal standard or the required agreement with the SAGAR under which the Secretariat would confer responsibility for fitosanitary inspection and the issuing of the corresponding certificates. Article 14 of the law stipulates that such restrictions, prohibited by the Constitution of Mexico, shall have no legal effect. Furthermore, on account of the adverse effects of such barriers to competition and free market access, article 15 of the law empowers the Commission to make a public declaration when they are found to exist. In fulfillment of this provision, the Commission published the corresponding declaration in the Official Gazette of the Federation. It also issued a resolution stating that the Sinaloa measures, and any other similar provisions enacted in the future, were void of legal effect.