On January 15, 2020 the Mexican Supreme Court (“SCJN” for its acronym in Spanish) issued a resolution against the determination made by the Energy Regulatory Commission (“CRE”) to increase the maximum percentage of ethanol as oxygenate for gasolines in Mexico
The resolution referred to herein derives from the constitutional “amparo” procedure filed against modifications made by CRE to the Mexican Official Standard known as NOM-016-CRE-2016 “Fuel Quality Specifications” approved through the CRE administrative agreement identified as A/028/2017 in which it was determined that the maximum use of ethanol in gasolines could be up to 10%.
As per the information issued by the SCJN, the constitutional court determined that the modifications referred to above were unconstitutional and that they clearly violated the constitutional principle of environmental precaution, which obliges a full evaluation with as much scientific information as possible to determine the potential environmental damages that the increase of ethanol in gasolines could cause.
The effects of the resolution referred to herein will be to respect the original maximum limits for the use of ethanol as previously regulated in the Mexican Official Standard, meaning up to 5.8%.
Additionally, SCJN granted a timeframe of up to 180 days, following the date in which notification of the sentence is made, in which the CRE must allow production and commercialization of gasolines using ethanol as oxygenate in volumes of up to 10% without imposing any sanctions.
The lawyers of the energy area at the firm are available for any questions or comments on the above.
Juan Carlos Serra
serra@basham.com.mx
Jorge Eduardo Escobedo Montaño
jescobedo@basham.com.mx
Miguel Figueroa Morgado
mfigueroa@basham.com.mx
Mexico City, February 4th, 2020.
