Impact of PROFECO Reviews: Why You Should Pay Attention

Lawyers, advertising, and compliance experts: Do you know why it's so important to understand what a PROFECO sectoral or category review is and its reputational and economic impact? Did you know that all products and services can be reviewed?

With millions of followers on social media and in the Consumer Magazine, and with the Attorney General frequently appearing in the morning press conferences talking about brands, their quality, their labels, commercial information, and advertising, and expressly rating them, it is vital that both lawyers, experts in company marketing and advertising, as well as their agencies and compliance advisors, understand this issue.

Every month, PROFECO conducts quality studies on a sector of the industry or a category of product or service. For example, a study can be done on all cheeses or just on American cheese, as happened in January of this year. However, studies have frequently been carried out on practically all categories of products and services.

These studies are carried out by the National Laboratory of the Procuraduría (PROFECO) and not only examine the quality and composition of basic products, but also conduct more sophisticated studies on electrical appliances, clothing, etc. These studies also review compliance with commercial information and advertising claims on labels and issue a rating of compliance or non-compliance with the Federal Consumer Protection Law and, where applicable, the relevant NOMs (Official Mexican Standards).

The potential impact on the reputation of a sector or a brand is evident; it's enough to recall the tuna and soy usage case, which was a scandal that surely affected the sector and many brands, but equally helped those that were well-rated.

The studies don't stop there; rather, they can represent the beginning of a Procedure for Infractions of the Law regarding those products that did not comply with the law or the applicable NOM, and the fines and consequences are in the millions, and the commercialization of a product or service can even be prohibited, with a devastating economic impact.

🚨Recommendations: Periodically update your compliance programs to include a section on regulatory and normative compliance in consumer matters, including the review of your labels to ensure they comply with the applicable NOM, and the review of your advertising claims and associated campaigns by experts in the field.