Mexico has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

In May 2000, Mexico amended several statutes, including the Code of Commerce, by introducing Title II on electronic commerce, drawing upon the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

In August 2003, Mexico amended its Commercial Code by reforming and expanding Title II on electronic commerce, including the introduction of a chapter on foreign electronic signatures. These amendments draw on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Pursuant to Art. 21 of Mexico’s Foreign Trade Act, the Secretariat of Economy (SE) may subject the importation and exportation of goods to prior permit requirements. Arts. 14–20 of the Regulation to the Act further set out the procedure for applying for these permits.
Annex 2.2.1 of the "Agreement whereby the Secretariat of Economy issues General Rules and Criteria on Foreign Trade" establishes that certain goods are subject to a prior import permit, including digital trade-relevant goods under HS heading 8528 (displays/monitors and reception apparatus), in particular tariff items 8528.59.99, 8528.72.06 and 8528.72.99. However, Section 2.2.3 clarifies that this requirement does not apply as a general rule to all importers, as it operates through the Rule 8a/Sector Promotion Programme (PROSEC) mechanism. Under this scheme, SE authorises the temporary and definitive importation of goods for manufacturing purposes, and such imports may be used only to produce goods covered by the relevant authorised PROSEC sector.

It is reported that Mexico provides insufficient prior notification of procedural changes, inconsistent interpretation of regulatory requirements at different border posts, and uneven border enforcement of Mexican standards and labelling rules. Some imports are still not allowed in all ports of entry. Restricting goods to certain ports has made it difficult for foreign exporters to arrange for transportation and logistics, especially for electronic commerce purchases involving SMEs.

It is reported that Mexico’s telecommunications and broadcasting conformity assessment procedure, published in the Official Gazette (DOF) on 25/02/2020, created administrative frictions for the importation and certification of second-hand, rebuilt, or refurbished ICT products. Reported frictions relate, in particular, to the “Family/Model” approach (Art. 26) and to the non-transferability of conformity documents (Art. 7), which may require the re-issuance of conformity documentation where different economic operators, such as the manufacturer, importer, or distributor, must rely on it.
While the original 2020 procedure effectively excluded non-new products from the main certification schemes, an amendment published in the DOF on 27/12/2021 introduced a pathway to certify “non-new products” under a specific scheme. However, restrictions reportedly remain, as non-new products continue to be confined to that route and are not generally eligible under the broader certification schemes.

Until 2020, product certification in Mexico could be conducted only by certification bodies accredited by the Entidad Mexicana de Acreditación (EMA). For IT equipment and consumer electronics, the Mexican agency issuing certificates is the Underwriters Laboratories of Mexico.
The Law of Quality Infrastructure, which repealed the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardisation, allows for self-declaration of conformity if the standard bodies confirm that the Conformity Assessment Procedure includes the obligation by the goods producers (or services suppliers) to be accountable or if it does not affect the public interest (Arts. 60 and 69).

The "Law on the National System of Research and Intelligence in the Field of Public Security" grants the Secretariat for Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) broad powers to access personal, fiscal, biometric, and geolocation data from public and private sources without prior judicial authorisation, while also establishing a single, centralised database to which federal, state, and municipal authorities may obtain direct access without a warrant. It further establishes a Central Intelligence Platform to integrate and connect public and private databases under the authority of the Digital Transformation Agency and the National Intelligence Centre in Mexico, permitting the use of such information without judicial oversight. The platform will consolidate an extensive range of data, including vehicle and licence plate records, biometric identifiers, telephone information, property and commercial registries, corporate and land records, fiscal data, firearms registries, information from private security service providers, data on detained and sentenced persons, and records relating to financial and banking services, transport, health, telecommunications, maritime activities, and other sectors.

The Federal Copyright Act provides a safe harbour regime for intermediaries concerning copyright infringements. According to the 2020 amendments to Arts. 114 Septies and 114 Octies of the Mexican Federal Copyright Law, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not liable for copyright infringements if they:
- 'Promptly and readily' remove any copyrighted works that infringe copyright, regardless of whether they are notified of the infringement or discover it themselves.
- Do not initiate the transmission of the works, performances, or productions, do not select them, and do not receive financial compensation for their transmission, making available, or reproduction.
These safe harbour provisions limit ISP liability, ensuring they are not directly liable for damages when they adhere to appropriate compliance measures. However, it is reported that these provisions lack the detail and clarity found in other similar regulations.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Mexico's law and jurisprudence.

Under Art. 183.II of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Act, telecommunications licensees and, where applicable, authorised entities must maintain records and controls of all communications made from any type of line, including SIM cards, to ensure the identification of the subscriber's name, designation or business name, address, and other relevant details.

Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property establishes a framework for the protection of trade secrets. Title III of the Act defines trade secrets and misappropriation, recognises lawful means of acquisition, and provides administrative enforcement mechanisms to protect trade secrets.

Art. 125 of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Act establishes a framework for infrastructure sharing. It requires the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to issue guidelines to promote, in a structured and progressive manner, co-location and the shared use of passive and active infrastructure and other physical resources, prioritising negotiated agreements between concessionaires. Where no agreement is reached, and sharing is necessary, the Commission may set the applicable technical, tariff, and operational conditions, and resolve disputes through the interconnection procedure, subject to a maximum time frame of 30 working days. The Law also requires that sharing agreements be registered in the Public Telecommunications Register.
Art. 123 further provides that operators with significant market power in the telecommunications sector are subject to specific obligations, including the obligation to conclude agreements for the shared use of infrastructure. The Law expressly repeals the previous Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law (LFTR, DOF 14/07/2014), which already contained comparable infrastructure-sharing provisions (Arts. 138 and 139) under which the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission promoted co-location and shared-use arrangements. In addition, the “Agreement issuing the Guidelines for the Deployment, Access and Shared Use of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Infrastructure” (DOF 15/01/2020) sets out operational rules, including procedures, timelines, and registration requirements, for implementing access and shared-use arrangements.

The Mexican State maintains equity participation in parts of the telecommunications sector through the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE). Following the publication of the Agreement creating CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos in the Official Gazette in August 2019, the CFE created CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE TEIT), a State-owned entity mandated to provide mobile telephony and internet services on a non-profit basis in order to support the right of access to information and communication technologies. In addition, in February 2025, CFE reported that its Board of Directors authorised the acquisition of a 49% stake in Altán Redes, a provider of wholesale mobile telephony and internet services, thereby strengthening the State’s presence in wholesale telecommunications infrastructure and operations.

Pursuant to Art. 123 of the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Act, operators designated as having significant market power (SMP) in the telecommunications sector are subject to specific obligations, including the obligation to submit, at least once per year, separated accounts and cost-accounting information for interconnection services to the Commission and to the authority responsible for competition and market access, in the form and in accordance with the methodologies and criteria determined by the competent authorities. Moreover, operators designated as having SMP are subject to functional separation obligations in the telecommunications market (Art. 256 and 267).