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iGEM Tec de Monterrey has participated 5 consecutive years in the competition, so we have some experience regarding shipments of DNA across the border, material, laboratory kits, etc. Although Monterrey is only two hours away from the US border, every year we have had problems at customs when crossing this kind of material.

México is a member of the World Trade Organization and active member of the Cartagena protocol. The participation in these Organisms should facilitate the transit of samples of Genetically Live Organisms and Genetically Modified Organisms through the border [1]. After a review of the Mexican customs Act, we realized that there is no specific legislation regarding DNA material, when received at customs, this kind of material is cataloged as “others” [2]. This means that there is no standard specified for this kind of material in the customs norms and as a consequence each customs office in the country acts differently towards this issue. This can delay the shipment for weeks or months and sometimes the shipment is turned back. Having just a few months for the realization of our projects, this can represent a huge setback for Mexican iGEM teams and it also affects the daily work of several biotechnological institutions across the country

iGEM Tec de Monterrey 2010 created a list of recommendations for future Mexican iGEM teams in order to facilitate the customs problems [3], although this recommendations sometimes work, others don’t. iGEM UNAM 2013 tried to address this problem sending a letter to the National Congress of the nation explaining the need to solve this issue and hoping for the congressmen to create a new law in consequence, unfortunately they had no response [4].

To solve this situation once and for all, iGEM Tec de Monterrey 2014 participated in two approaches:

First we came in contact with fellow mexican iGEMers Virtus Parva, Biosint México, Genetix Tec CEM and iGEM Guadalajara to join forces. With the experience and advice of past teams, we realized that the best way to address the situation was to make a proposal for a modification of the norm on our own for later delivery to a local congressman who would be responsible for endorsing it to the local congress.

All the teams were involved in the drafting of the proposal; we shared our ideas and experiences in order to get a proposal as complete and useful as possible.

1.- We argue that the best is to include in the customs act a guide to clearly classify the products for what they are (Proteins and DNA are not present in the product list). This guide should content also the documentation and the package needed for each classification. The provider should include an engagement letter assuring that the material shipped is safe. In order to achieve this, the Official Mexican Norm NOM-087-ECOL-SSA1-2002 of environmental-health-waste disposal protection should be modified and extended. It is also proposed an official norm for the label of the package:

  • Complete name and abbreviation of the product.
  • Classification in risk levels (Material Safety Data Sheet)
  • Storage and transportation conditions.

    • </p> <p> 2.- In order to keep control, agreements must be established between customs offices and Universities, Investigation Centers and Companies recognized in México. All this should be done with strict attachment to the articles 4 and 5 of the Cartagena Protocol, the Agreement of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on Technical Barriers of Trade. </p> <p> Our purpose with these points is to make a standard for the shipment of this kind of material. This will ease the job of the customs officers because the only thing they have to do is check if the requirements of the guide are correct and the destination of the material (Academia or Private Research). By doing this, customs officers will be less likely to unjustly or unknowingly retain important research material (which is the main cause of biotech material to remain stuck in the border). This will in turn make the process easier for the companies sending the material because they’ll know what to address in order to get the shipment delivered in time and form. </p> <p> For our second approach, we contacted two lawyers of our university, Dr. Donato Cárdenas and Eloisa Fernández, who are currently articulating the ideas into a proposal with all the necessary requirements and working simultaneously with our local congressman to address the proposal. This part is essential because if we really want to make a contribution of high impact, we need to work interdisciplinary. The vision and contribution of the lawyers and politicians is very valuable because it allows us to understand the nature of lawmaking and all the things that have to be done in order to create an articulated and functional law, but it also helps them to understand and be aware of the issues that we have and how they work can impact in the development of something as important as science in the country. </p> <p> It is surprising how this is the first time in México that a real proposal to address the crossing of biological material through the border for research is done. After we shared our ideas with the lawyers, we realized that this is because they had no idea of the problematic that this represents, the lack of communication between the scientific and political communities being responsible. There are a lot of prejudices against disciplines like Biotechnology or Synthetic Biology, the fear of the unknown and lack of understanding can be a main part of it. </p> <p> It is our belief that it is our duty to raise awareness among people to implement in a better way the new technologies. A major challenge of our country in order to get into the first world is to improve its scientific performance and lessen the time needed for progress, that’s why actions like this one are very valuable for the scientific community and some high tech industries but especially for the population in general. The process is currently in course in 5 states; we hope this effort made by the Mexican iGEMers is appreciated and imitated by all the scientific community in México, we have 27 states left where the process could be initiated by them. </p> <p> We want to ensure the realization of this project, that’s why we are committed to follow all the process of the proposal until it is finished. </p> <p> Given the nature of lawmaking, we hope that in two or three years the proposal will be ready to be applied. Because of that, the follow up of this project will be part of the Policy & Practice of the future iGEM teams of Tec de Monterrey. Once the proposal is approved in our state, our responsibility will be to spread the word to all the companies, institutions and universities that can be benefited by it in order to expand the initiative to more states and eventually a Federal norm can be achieved. </p> <p> The wikis of the teams participating in the proposal are: