Georgina Saldierna and Andrea Becerril
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, November 28, 2025, p. 6
The Senate received a minute from the Chamber of Deputies that reforms the Federal Penal Code to increase penalties and sanctions for crimes against the environment.
The Board of Directors of the Upper House sent the document to the Justice and Legislative Studies commissions for their ruling, which states that whoever destroys any type of natural vegetation or forest resources will receive from one to nine years in prison and a fine of one thousand to five thousand days.
It also proposes two to 10 years in prison and a financial penalty of one thousand to five thousand days for anyone who cuts, uproots, fells or fells trees.
The bill contemplates sanctions of two to 10 years in prison and a fine of 687 to 6,878 days for anyone who enters national territory or traffics in forest resources, living or dead wild flora or fauna, their products or derivatives that carry, suffer from or have suffered from any contagious disease that could cause its spread to ecosystems.
For anyone who carries out occupation, invasion or change of land use activities in any type of forest land, two to 10 years in prison and a fine of one thousand to 5 thousand days will be imposed.
Likewise, two to 10 years in prison and 687 to 6,878 days are proposed for anyone who, in violation of the provisions of the applicable regulations, introduces or extracts from the country, or trades, transports, stores or releases into the environment any genetically modified organism (GMO) that may negatively alter the components, structure or functioning of natural ecosystems.
Against GMOs
The project foresees imposing from two to 10 years in prison and from 687 to six thousand 878 days of fine to those who illegally, or without applying prevention or safety measures, carry out production, storage, trafficking, import, export, transportation, abandonment, disposal, discharge, or carry out any other activity with substances considered dangerous because they are corrosive, reactive, explosive, toxic, flammable, radioactive or other similar.
