Colombia and Mexico exchange experiences in quality infrastructure

From 13 to 17 June 2022, the General Directorate of Standards of the Ministry of Economy of Mexico and a Delegation of officials from the Superintendence of Industry and Trade (SIC) of Colombia exchanged information and knowledge in quality infrastructure (QI) in the framework of a study tour to Mexico City, as organized by UNIDO. The two countries had the opportunity to share experiences on inspection, surveillance and control of products subject to compliance with technical regulations as well as best practices related to the control of measuring instruments, product net quantity and other legal metrology provisions.

The Colombian delegation learned about the control model of the Mexican authorities, their contribution to consumer protection and the changes derived from the recent federal law on quality infrastructure in Mexico, taking the opportunity to share the capacities recently acquired by Colombia in prepackages control developed.

The agenda also included knowledge transfer activities at the National Metrology Center of Mexico (CENAM), as well as exchanges with the Federal Consumer Protection Agency and private organizations that support the verification tasks of Mexican entities, including practical control activities. Mexico constitutes a valuable reference for the Colombian QI authorities since it shares similar sociodemographic characteristics having also benchmark institutions in the region such as CENAM.

In this way, synergies of collaboration and action between regional peers are not only consolidated, but opportunities for South-South technical cooperation materialize. The activity was part of the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP) Colombia, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

For further information contact Juan Pablo Diaz-Castillo (j.diaz-castillo [at] unido.org (j[dot]diaz-castillo[at]unido[dot]org))