Mexico: Notary laws awarded Most Absurd Regulatory Barrier prize

Mexico’s federal competition regulator, COFECE, awarded the annual prize for the Most Absurd Regulatory Barrier to Competition and Entrepreneurship to Ms. Veronica Perez Lima for nominating state laws regulating services offered by notaries public.

Notaries public in Mexico are regulated by state laws that vary from one entity to the other. COFECE found that artificial restrictions to notarial services resulted in a far lower number of competing functionaries participating in the market (3.3 notaries per hundred thousand inhabitants, as compared to 33.3 in Switzerland). Notaries public also offer fixed rates set by state legislatures that openly consult notarial colleges in most local jurisdictions. In addition to this, many states’ laws grant the local executive powers to discretionally award notary licenses and determine their location.

Runners up for the prize include traffic regulations in municipalities of Nuevo Leon state and the Federal Water Law.

The prize offers an opportunity for businesspeople and citizens in general to draw attention to government activity at the federal or local levels that reduces competition, affecting society at large.

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