Mexican maritime law launched
Published 15 June 2006
After nearly six years and 11 parliamentary sessions, the Mexican Congress has approved a new maritime law.
The navigation and maritime commerce law was passed on 27 April and will come into force on 1 July. It has 328 articles in 10 titles, three of which are entirely new: marine insurance, maritime sales and maritime procedural rules.
David Enriquez co-ordinates the maritime practice group of Goodrich, Riquelme y Asociados, and helped in the drafting of the new law. He explains that the last rules on marine insurance were made in 1963, and there have been substantial developments since then. "The new law takes these into account, and can now be regarded as an internationally oriented piece of legislation."
Procedural rules specifically drawn up for maritime claims should make litigation more straightforward. And the new title on maritime sales takes into account ICC International Commerce Terms from 2000, standardising the solutions for claims over contractual obligations related to transport, insurance and customs.
Other topics touched on by the law include granting temporary coastal trade permits to foreign vessels. This will be especially important for groups like state-owned oil and gas company Pemex and its contractors, which use over 200 vessels, most of them non-Mexican, for offshore operations every day. This number will increase as it starts deep water activity over the next two years.
