NOM 142

Are commercial destilados de agave or “agave spirits” subject to regulation? Yes. Producers and brand owners can avoid a certain level of scrutiny by opting out of the certification process that allows them to label their product as tequila or mezcal. But that doesn’t mean that these agave spirits are unregulated. All sectors of Mexican industry are subject to sets of regulations known as norms, or normas. Case in point: NOM 142, which passed into law in March of 2016, and elaborates on previous norms that were relevant to the booze industry.

What is NOM 142? Formally known as NOM-142-SSA1/SCFI-2014, this “norm” outlines rules regarding both sanitation and labeling for alcohol sold in Mexico.

NOM 142 states that alcoholic beverages must be made with potable water, with the addendum, “If necessary, distilled or demineralized water may be used.”

The norm also outlines the raw material for legal distillates: ethyl alcohol derived from plants. It goes on to limit the allowable quantity of methanol, furfural, adelheid, and superior alcohols, as well as heavy metals. It lists allowable optional ingredients, including herbs, fruit, chiles, and gusanos, as well as additives. At this point, it really gets into the weeds. Since this is not a wine or beer blog, we will not go into the intricacies of the norm’s provisions for those industries. 

So what’s up next in the norm? Paperwork! 

According to NOM 142, “The producer of alcoholic beverages must demonstrate that the product has not been adulterated,” 

Here the use of the word “adulterate” strays from the dictionary definition: “to debase or make impure by adding inferior materials or elements; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods in the production of (any professedly genuine article).” Arguably, mixto tequila and tequila with additives would count as adulterated, but that’s not the case on a legal level.

But back to the norm, which requires  “up-to-date records” pertaining to raw materials, the transportation of raw materials, inventories of raw materials and finished product, including documentation, when applicable, of the aging process. 

NOM 142 also goes into a lot of detail about labeling requirements, most of which is not particularly interesting. Basically, booze needs to be clearly labeled. The label should give the consumer a clear idea of what they are drinking. The label must state the country of origin, the name of the responsible company, and the batch number. If you really want to know more, you can read the full text here (in Spanish). Or if you want to know more about how to read a mezcal label, here’s our full run-down.