International Agreements

• USMCA, 2020, Chapter 13 (Government Procurement)

National Law

• Constitution of Mexico, 134.
• Law on Procurement of Goods, Leasing and Other Services in the Public Sector (Ley de Adquisiciones, Arrendamientos y Servicios del Sector Público), 2000, last amended in 2021.
• Law on Public Works and Related Services (Ley de Obras Públicas y Servicios Relacionados con las Mismas), 2000, last amended in 2021.
• Law for the Development of Competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Ley para el Desarrollo de la Competitividad de la Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa), 2002, last amended in2023.
• Agreements on the Creation of the Interdepartmental Commission of the Federal Public Administration for Procurement and Works of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Acuerdo por el que se crea con carácter permanente la Comisión Intersecretarial de Compras y Obras de la Administración Pública Federal a la Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa), 2009.
• Law on Public-Private Partnership (Ley de Asociaciones Público Privadas), 2012, last amended in 2018.
• Law on Hydrocarbons (Ley de Hidrocarburos), 2014, last amended in 2018.
• Law on Electrical Industry (Ley de la Industria Eléctrica), 2014, last amended in 2022.

At the state level, there are local regulations governing the procurement process.

Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público)

CompraNet electronic procurement system

According to Article 134 of the Constitution and the Law on Procurement of Goods, Leasing and Other Services in the Public Sector, contracts for the purchase, lease and sale of all types of goods, services and works are concluded based on the results of public tenders. In exceptional cases, closed tendering process involving at least three suppliers and direct award of the contract to a specific supplier may be possible (see Single-Supplier Procurement). 

Public works may be carried out on the basis of contracts (Art. 27 of the Law on Public Works and Related Services) or from own resources (Art. 26).

Public Procurement Stages

• Drafting of the TOR, selection of the procurement method according to the terms and conditions (tender, competitive bidding with at least three suppliers, single-source procurement), posting and distributing notices in CompraNet and in the Federation Newsletter (Diario Oficial de la Federación).
• Registration of participants, receipt of quotations from potential suppliers, opening of bids, review of bids and their evaluation. The requirements for setting deadlines for submission of bids and criteria for their evaluation are set out in Articles 29, 32 and 36 of the Law on Procurement of Goods, Leasing and Other Services in the Public Sector; Articles 31 and 33 of the Law on Public Works and Related Services.
• Awarding a contract to the selected vendor.
• Contract management.

Complaints relating to bidding and closed tenders are handled by Mexican Secretariat of Civil Service (Secretaría de la Función Pública) (Art. 65 of the Law on Procurement of Goods, Leasing and Other Services in the Public Sector).