(Bloomberg) -- Closing down Mexico’s transparency institute, a move being considered by lawmakers in the country’s congress, would violate the North American free trade agreement, the institute’s president says.
The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection, a target of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, would be shuttered if a bill to get rid of several autonomous entities moves forward once the new congress starts its next session in September.
The institute, which is run by a board of commissioners, oversees requests similar to those filed under the Freedom of Information Act in the US to obtain government records. The US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement sets the rules for the commercial relationship between the signatory nations.
“We would fall into non-compliance since the State has been obliged to have independent and autonomous entities that guarantee the protection of personal data,” said the Mexican institute’s president of commissioners, Adrian Alcala Mendez, in an interview with local media outlet El Sol de Mexico.
A broad win for the ruling Morena party and its coalition partners in the June 2 election has meant lawmakers have an easy path forward for reforms. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has not listed winding down the institute as a priority issue for her government, but acknowledged the proposal.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.