Overview
- The Secretaría de Economía published the emergency Official Mexican Standard NOM-EM-023-SE-2026 in the Diario Oficial de la Federación to impose mandatory technical requirements, test methods and commercial information for hydraulic cement.
- Authorities say the rule responds to safety risks from uncertified cement that can deliver low compressive strength, poor fire resistance and weak adhesion to reinforcing steel, which undermine structural durability and endanger people.
- The standard requires manufacturers, importers and sellers to provide verifiable performance data and obtain conformity certificates, with the measure developed together with industry specialists, conformity assessment bodies and academic institutions.
- Government and industry estimates describe a large informal market of about 576,000 tonnes of cement a year that causes roughly 5,800 million pesos in annual harm to the formal sector, a key rationale for tighter controls.
- Coverage so far explains the standard’s technical scope but gives few details on enforcement steps or compliance deadlines, so the next developments to watch are how authorities will roll out testing, certification and inspections.