The National Council for Science and Technology (CONASET) on Friday unveiled its proposal for a new general law for the humanities, sciences, technology and innovation, as part of the process required by the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement (CONAMIR) to identify changes that could represent additional administrative burdens on citizens.
In the text of the draft general law, to which any citizen can comment, he once again made it clear that funding will be given priority to research aimed at finding solutions to the problems of the country, but that the identification of priority problems remains in the hands of citizens. who administer Conacyt, violating the possibility for researchers to freely choose their research topics.
The bill itself insists on limiting financial support to researchers from private universities and ignores quality standards in awarding scholarships, stressing that grants will be given “in good faith”.
Introductory Bill No. cancels the previous Science and Technology Advisory Forum, where academia, federal and state governments and the private sector participated. In turn, it creates a similar internal office called the Internal Advisory Body, to encourage the participation of actors in the research and development ecosystem.
Various changes are attracting attention, such as those affecting the public research centers at Kunasset. Article 70 states that “the National System of Public Centers was created as a tool to articulate its resources, infrastructure and networks (…) with the aim of achieving and strengthening the scientific and technological independence of the country, as well as ensuring that the social benefits of scientific and technological progress accrue to the well-being of the people of Mexico … but there is Now also a mechanism for removing the quality of the research center from these institutions, described in Article 78, for four assumptions related to results, evaluations or requests from the Ministry of Finance or the coordinating agency of the sector in which these centers operate.
Ask about the fast track.
In order to ensure that the bill advances as quickly as possible within the executive branch, the authors of the document asked Konamir to waive the delivery of the Statement of Regulatory Impact (MIR) and devote as little time as possible to public consultation, with the argument that the file handed over is merely a draft and can be amended when it arrives to the House and Senate.
“According to Section 73, second and third paragraphs, of the General Act for the Improvement of Regulations, a minimum public consultation period shorter than that provided in the aforementioned Law is required, given that the Regulation consists of an initial draft and that it may still be subject to changes as part of the procedure submitted by the statutory department of the Federal Executive, and in any case, as soon as the corresponding legislative action has officially begun”, says the statement request for exemption from Regulation Impact, which is responsible for Mr. Noé Ortíz Lépez, Head of the Administration and Finance Unit at Conacyt.
The authors of the initial draft expressed in writing to Conamer that: “The law will not regulate the actions of individuals that will have any cost of compliance, rather the direct beneficiaries of which will be the authorities in the humanities, technologies and innovation federation, federal entities, municipalities and the territorial delimitation of Mexico City. The regulatory proposal does not specify new obligations, provisions or procedures in itself.
Chances are high that this initiative will lead to law because it will be supported by the legislative majority of the Morena party. Previously, two legal proposals prepared by the National Network of State Science Councils (Rednacecyt) and the ProCienciaMx Network have been submitted, but they have gone unheeded.
The Chambers have spent nearly 15 months without carrying out their duties.
Despite the fact that Mexico’s House of Representatives and Senate forced themselves to approve a new general science, technology and innovation law before the end of 2020, legislators from majority groups have evaded their responsibility and have been waiting for the initial draft of the law being put in place by the executive branch, through Conacyt. Lawmakers created and imposed the task themselves when they approved an amendment to Article 3 of the Constitution, in May 2019.
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