Open Source Content Management

In recent days the following events have impacted the Mexican power industry: (i) on February 1, 2021, the filing before the House of Representatives (Cámara de Diputados) of a “preferential” initiative by the office of the Mexican President (the “Initiative”), which aims to modify the Power Industry Law (“LIE”, for its initials in Spanish) and (ii) the decision of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (“SCJN”) in Constitutional Controversy 89/2020 that the Federal Competition Commission (“COFECE”, for its acronym in Spanish) filed against the Reliability Policy that the Ministry of Energy (“SENER”, for its acronym in Spanish) issued in May of last year.

Today the Directive amending the Protocol for the Legitimation of existing Collective Bargaining Agreements (hereinafter, “the Directive”), was published in the Official Federal Gazette (DOF).

Today the Ministry of Economy published a criterion on its web page related to the minimum level of exports that IMMEX, ALTEX and ECEX companies must comply with and declare every year to maintain their programs. In recognition of the terrible situation the export industry suffered during fiscal year 2020 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their operations, it was determined that the IMMEX, ALTEX and ECEX companies are not obligated to prove that they met the minimum level of exports required during that fiscal year. However, it is clarified that they will still be obligated to present the annual operations report for fiscal year 2020 according to the normal rules.

The Board of the Commission in its ordinary session held on January 26, which was published in the Official Gazette on January 29,1 decided that the initial suspension (December 14 to December 18 and January 11 to January 15, “Initial Suspension”) and the second suspension (January 18 to January 29, “Second Suspension”) of terms will be extended. In this regard and effective as of February 2 of this year, all times and terms will be suspended until February 19, 2021 (“Third Suspension”), excepting those related to merger control procedures and the issuance of opinions or decisions in the granting of licenses, concessions, permits and similar procedures.

Yesterday the Federal Ministry of Health published a directive in the Federal Official Gazette that establishes, as an extraordinary public health action, that the governments of the states and public and private entities of the National Health System may assist in the National Vaccination Policy against the SARS-CoV2 virus, through the direct acquisition of the vaccine with their own resources.

Mexico City, January 2021.- Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C. is delighted to announce that it has bolstered the firm with the appointment of two partners and five counsel with complementary areas of expertise, in furtherance of our full-service approach to better serve our clients.

The Directive creating the permanent National Trade Facilitation Committee (Committee) was published today in the Official Federal Gazette (DOF), the purpose of which is to coordinate the Federal Public Administration for the adequate design, execution and evaluation of the strategies for facilitating the international trade of merchandise.

On March 4, 2021, communications platform WhatsApp announced certain changes to its terms and conditions of use that would affect more than two billion registered users, and whose acceptance as of February 8 would be a prerequisite to continue using its messenger service.

On January 18, 2021, the Energy Regu­latory Commission (“CRE”) published in the Federal Official Gazette (“DOF”) the “Ruling number A / 001/2021 which declares the suspension of legal terms and proceedings carried out before the Energy Regulatory Com­mission as a measure to prevent and combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus". ("Ruling").

The Board of the Commission in its exceptional session held on January 12, which was published in the Official Gazette on January 15, decided that the initial suspension (December 14 to De­cember 18 and January 11 to January 15, “Initial Suspension”) of terms will be extended.