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The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, SCJN, issued a ruling that changes the rules for the transport of livestock in Mexico. The Full Court determined that several state permits can no longer be required. “The transit guide can exist as an instrument to prove ownership”, the highest court stated in its ruling.
The decision was made when resolving Constitutional Controversy 216/2025, analyzed in a Full Court session on March 10, 2026. In the ruling, the Supreme Court clarified that certain local requirements in Nayarit invaded federal powers, so their application has been without effect from now on.
In the official statement, the Supreme Court explained that some state provisions sought to control the movement of animals through local authorizations.
“In practice, they established a state system of prior authorization to move livestock,” the court indicated, which contravenes the powers established in the Mexican Constitution.
The Supreme Court validates ownership documents, but not state controls
The ruling distinguishes between the documents that serve to prove ownership of the livestock and those that function as mandatory permits for their transport. The justices validated part of the Nayarit Livestock Law that recognizes administrative instruments to demonstrate the possession or transfer of animals.
According to the statement, these mechanisms can remain because they do not constitute a mandatory filter for the movement of livestock.
“These provisions fall within the authority of the states to legislate in civil and administrative matters,” the Court explained in justifying the validity of those records.
State permits to move livestock are invalidated
However, the Full Court invalidated several articles of the same law that required obtaining state permits before transporting or exporting livestock, products, and livestock by-products. Among them were transit guides numbered by local authorities or authorizations issued by inspectors.
The Supreme Court stressed that this type of control falls under the federal sphere, especially in health matters.
“These provisions invade the Federation’s sphere of competence in matters of general health,” the court concluded, making it clear that states cannot impose prior authorizations for the movement of livestock.