NOM 151
The Mexican standard governing digital document preservation so that its content remains demonstrable over time.
Preservation and evidenceNOM-151-SCFI-2016
Mexican Official Standard NOM-151-SCFI-2016, issued by the Ministry of Economy and published in the Official Gazette on March 30, 2017. It establishes requirements for preserving data messages, the Commercial Code’s term for information created, sent, received or stored electronically, and for digitizing paper documents. It supports later demonstration that the content has not changed since preservation.
What it addresses in practice
A PDF contract in a shared folder can be replaced by another file. Preservation under the standard produces integrity evidence: a certificate linking content to a moment in time, issued by a certification service provider accredited by the Ministry of Economy.
For a legal team, this changes the question in an audit or dispute from possessing the document to demonstrating that it remains the same.
Where it applies
It is often requested for records that must outlast their own operational term: minute books, contracts and transaction evidence, which the Commercial Code requires to be retained for at least ten years, and documents a third party may review years after signing.
Read alongside
Preservation and evidence
Preservation certificate
Evidence that a digital document has remained intact since a specific date.
ReadSignatures
Advanced electronic signature
An electronic signature uniquely linked to the signatory, under their exclusive control, that makes later changes to the signature or document detectable.
ReadDocument practice
Document traceability
An automatically generated record of who changed a document, what changed and when, including the previous and new values.
Read
Reactive compliance served its time.
Today’s environment rewards control.
Request a strategic session to identify your area of greatest risk and leave with a clear plan to get started.