Mexico, Services - understand-culture

Notary Patents

In Baja California, the College of Notaries favors a route to a notary’s patent made up of an initial exam and an exam by competition. In October 2019, the weekly ZETA reported that Governor Francisco Vega de Lamadrid had named a notary directly, as a 2015 reform allowed.

The president of the state’s College of Notaries said that the new notary “no se sometió al concurso de oposición” (did not take part in the competitive exam).

In November 2019, the state government ordered the withdrawal of five patents that the former governor had granted before the end of his term. It cited the principle of equality in Article 1 of the federal Constitution.

National Quality Award

Mexico’s Premio Nacional de Calidad, the National Quality Award, was created in 1989, according to the Ministry of Economy’s guide to the award. Other sources give 1990. The guide describes the award as a strategic program of the ministry. Its logo is reserved for the winners, “como sinónimo de clase mundial” (as a synonym of world class). (Video in Spanish.)

The Law on Quality

On July 1, 2020, Mexico published the Ley de la Infraestructura de la Calidad, the Law on Quality Infrastructure. It aims to promote “la calidad en la producción de bienes y servicios” (quality in the production of goods and services) through standards, accreditation, conformity assessment and metrology. It also brings the public, social and private sectors into the drafting of the Normas Oficiales Mexicanas, the country’s official standards.

The Graduate Exam

Ceneval, the National Center for the Evaluation of Higher Education, gives the EGEL, a general exam for graduates of a degree program. It assesses whether graduates have “los conocimientos y las habilidades necesarios para iniciarse eficazmente en el ejercicio de la profesión” (the knowledge and skills needed to begin practicing the profession effectively). (Video in Spanish.)

In Ceneval’s report on the exam in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering for 2021, 34.8 percent of the 979 graduates tested reached a satisfactory level and 11.4 percent an outstanding one.

The Transparency Law

On June 11, 2002, Mexico published its first federal law on transparency and access to public government information. In 2004, an assessment in the journal Nueva Sociedad called it “un instrumento valiosísimo de la consolidación democrática en México” (a most valuable instrument of democratic consolidation in Mexico). The same assessment listed weaknesses in the law and in IFAI, the institute that applied it.

Complied With Little or Not at All

In October 2016, the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM surveyed 1,200 households for its Third National Survey of Constitutional Culture. According to a press release of the Supreme Court, 84 percent of respondents said that the Constitution is complied with “poco” or “nada” (little or not at all).

According to Animal Político, one in four respondents thought that breaking the law is not so bad, and that the bad thing is to get caught.

Agreed by Word

Apalabrar, from palabra, word, is to agree on something by word of mouth. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines it as to commit to something or to contract it verbally. One of its examples: “Antes de firmar contrato se apalabraron sobre el precio del terreno” (Before signing a contract, they agreed by word on the price of the land).

De palabra, “by word,” the dictionary explains, means said but not set down in writing: prometer de palabra, to promise by word, resolver un asunto sólo de palabra, to settle a matter only by word. A person who is de palabra is “leal, honrado y cumplido” (loyal, honest and reliable).

Work Without a Written Contract

Articles 24 and 25 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law require working conditions to be set down in writing. Article 26 states: “La falta del escrito a que se refieren los artículos 24 y 25 no priva al trabajador de los derechos que deriven de las normas de trabajo y de los servicios prestados, pues se imputará al patrón la falta de esa formalidad.”

In other words, a worker without the written document keeps all rights, and the missing paper counts against the employer.

According to INEGI’s employment survey, as reported by the Mexico Solidarity Project, 41.4 percent of subordinate workers had no written contract in February 2026.

Ninety Percent

In April 2012, a column in Excélsior reported on a global Nielsen survey of trust in advertising. In Mexico, it said, “los mexicanos confían en mayor medida en las recomendaciones de las personas que conocen (90%)” (Mexicans trust most the recommendations of people they know, 90 percent). The column does not give the date of the survey.

Only With Friends

A paper published by the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo describes how business negotiation works in Mexico. Citing an earlier study, it says that “es común ver que solo se concretan los negocios con ‘amigos'” (it is common to see deals closed only with “friends”). The negotiation itself may take place over breakfast or lunch.