Guides · Published July 2026 · CrossWave

SAT, COFEPRIS, IMPI and friends: who regulates what in Mexico

Companies entering Mexico often discover its institutions one surprise at a time. This guide introduces the ones you are most likely to meet, so none of them is a surprise.

SAT, the tax authority

Every business operating in Mexico deals with SAT. A Mexican entity needs a tax number called an RFC and an electronic signature called an e.firma before it can do much of anything. Mexico also runs one of the most digital invoicing systems in the world: every invoice is an electronic document called a CFDI, validated in real time. It is efficient once set up and unforgiving of improvisation.

COFEPRIS, health and safety

If your product touches the human body or the food supply, COFEPRIS is your gatekeeper. Pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, beverages, supplements and cosmetics all pass through it, with requirements ranging from notification to full registration. Timelines vary widely by product class, which is why regulated products need the regulatory roadmap before the marketing plan.

IMPI, intellectual property

Here is the single most important sentence in this guide: Mexico is a first to file country. With limited exceptions, whoever registers a trademark first owns it, regardless of who used it first elsewhere. Companies have arrived in Mexico to find their own brand already registered by someone else. File with IMPI before you announce your entry, not after.

The Economy Ministry

The Secretaría de Economía administers the IMMEX program for export manufacturers, oversees rules of origin under the USMCA trade agreement, and manages the system of official product standards known as NOMs. If your product category has a NOM, compliance and labeling to that standard is a condition of sale, and sometimes of customs clearance.

PROFECO, the consumer watchdog

Selling to consumers brings you under PROFECO, which enforces consumer protection rules on advertising claims, pricing display, warranties and Spanish language labeling. It is active and it does fine companies, including foreign brands who assumed their home country practices would translate.

IMSS and the labor institutions

The moment you hire in Mexico, you register employees with IMSS, the social security institute, and begin contributing to housing and retirement funds. Mexican labor law is protective by design, with rules on profit sharing, severance and working hours that differ sharply from at will employment. Budget for this from the first hire.

The order matters more than the list

None of these institutions is unreasonable. Trouble comes from meeting them in the wrong order: shipping product before checking for a NOM, announcing a brand before filing with IMPI, hiring before understanding IMSS. A regulatory roadmap sequenced for your specific sector turns this list from a minefield into a checklist.

How CrossWave helps

We build that roadmap. For your product and sector, we identify which of these institutions you will actually meet, in what order, with what timelines and costs, and we coordinate the filings with vetted local specialists.