Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property establishes a framework for trade secret protection, including safeguards against unlawful disclosure. The Law provides for both administrative and criminal enforcement mechanisms, including administrative infringements (Art. 386) and criminal offences relating to trade secrets (Art. 402).
However, it is reported that the Conformity Assessment Procedure for Telecommunications and Broadcasting issued by the Plenary of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (DOF: 25 February 2020) has raised confidentiality concerns, insofar as it contemplates the submission of test reports that may contain detailed confidential information on ICT products. While the amendment to the 2021 Agreement has reportedly addressed earlier concerns about the automatic sharing of such reports, regulators may still request test reports in specific cases, which continues to generate trade secret and confidentiality risks for ICT manufacturers.

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.

Pursuant to Art. 39.3 of the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing and Services Act, public tenders may be conducted under three modalities: (i) national, limited to Mexican suppliers or to suppliers offering goods or services with at least 50% national content; (ii) international under treaty coverage, open to Mexican suppliers and to suppliers from countries with which Mexico has an applicable free trade agreement or other procurement-covered treaty; and (iii) open international, in which both domestic and foreign suppliers may participate regardless of nationality.
Art. 39.3 further provides that the open international modality may be used only where: (i) a national tender has been declared void; (ii) its use is required under an external-loan arrangement; (iii) market research shows that a foreign option is more cost-effective even after applying a domestic preference margin of up to 15%; or (iv) market research indicates that suitable suppliers or goods are unavailable, or cannot meet the required quantity, quality, or delivery timeframe, either in Mexico (where the procurement is not treaty-covered) or in Mexico and the relevant treaty-partner countries (where the procurement is treaty-covered).
In addition, Art. 39.1 provides that national tenders are restricted to persons of Mexican nationality and require that the goods be produced in Mexico with at least 65% national content, calculated on the basis of labour, inputs/assets, and other factors determined through general rules issued by the Ministry of Economy. National tenders may be used where the contract value falls below the thresholds established in Mexico’s procurement-covered treaties, or where the relevant goods are subject to a treaty reservation.

Pursuant to Art. 113 of the Regulations to the Public Sector Procurement, Leasing and Services Act, where procurement is carried out under exceptions to open tendering (as provided in Art. 55 of the Act), agencies must award at least 50% of the annual value of acquisitions to MSMEs, cooperatives, social economy entities certified by the National Institute of Social Economy (NISE), and priority groups. At least 25% of that value must be awarded specifically to cooperatives and to National Institute of Social Economy–certified social economy entities.
In addition, Art. 48 of the Act provides that, in the event of a tie in an open tender, preference must be given to cooperatives and to NISE–certified social economy organisations, including those that promote the labour-market inclusion of women and vulnerable persons and those constituted by priority groups, provided they hold the relevant incorporation and registration documentation under the applicable legal framework.

Mexico is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Under Regulation 26(1)–(3) of the Radio and Telegraph Control (Dealers and Experimental Radio Station Licences) Regulations, 1987, subject to the applicable exceptions, a person may not import or otherwise bring into Jamaica apparatus designed to emit radio waves unless a valid licence authorising its use is produced to Customs. Customs officers must detain radio apparatus brought into Jamaica in breach of this requirement. The measure is based on the technical characteristics of the equipment and may cover radio-transmitting equipment classified under parts of HS 8517 and HS 8525, including two-way radios, base stations and broadcasting transmitters, depending on whether the equipment requires an individual spectrum licence.
In addition, according to Art. 9 of the Telecommunications Act, 2000, no person may sell, trade in or import any prescribed telecom equipment unless they hold a dealer’s licence. Pursuant to Art. 13 of the Act, upon receipt of a recommendation from the Office, the Minister may grant a dealer’s licence authorising the licensee to sell, trade in or import such prescribed telecom equipment.

It is reported that market approval for products using radio technologies in Jamaica is granted by the Spectrum Management Authority (SMA). The SMA certification is a national certification scheme based on the specifications of the Conformité Européenne (CE) marking, the Radio Equipment Directive (RED), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification. However, it is reported that, in Jamaica, typically one sample of the product is required for approval requests.
Tests and certificates issued for CE marking and FCC certification can be reused for SMA certification. Type approval for Radio Communication equipment in Jamaica is obtained through the recognition of type approval test reports prepared in accordance with international standards. However, technical documents must be reviewed and validated by the Bureau of Standards, Jamaica.

According to the Jamaica Customs Agency official website, the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 100, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The Electronic Transactions Act and the Consumer Protection Act provide a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that also applies to online transactions.

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

Jamaica has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Jamaica has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Jamaica has not joined any free trade agreement committing to open transfers of cross-border data flows.