Juan Antonio was born in Mexico City. He has a law degree from the Escuela Libre de Derecho of Mexico and a Master's Degree in International Relations from the School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Geneva, Switzerland. He also has postgraduate studies in EU Private Law and Legal Marketing from the University of Cantabria, Spain.
In 1995, Juan Antonio joined Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy, serving first as Legal Advisor of the Undersecretary of Standards and Services to Industry and International Trade, then as Director of Standardization and later as Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Standards (“DGN”, by its acronym in Spanish).
Between 2002 and 2007 he served as Economic Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. During those years, he was elected chairman of the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (2003) and, subsequently, of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (2006).
From May 2008 to April 2016, he held the position of General Director of International Trade Rules at the Secretariat of Economy, where he served as Mexico's leader for negotiations on technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, regulatory cooperation, regulatory coherence, trade remedies, trade and environment, government procurement, trade and labor, competition policy, as well as on the protection of intellectual property rights based on the Free Trade Agreements to which Mexico is a Party at the multilateral, regional or bilateral level , such as the then-called Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the Pacific Alliance Trade Protocol. He was also responsible for ensuring the implementation of Mexico's international trade commitments in those areas.
Juan Antonio has served as a WTO panelist in four disputes. First, in 2008, in the dispute brought by the United States against China regarding measures affecting commercial rights and distribution services for certain publications and audiovisual entertainment products (WT / DS363). Then, in 2015, in the dispute “Russian Federation – Measures on the importation of live pigs, pork and other pig products from the European Union” (WT/DS475). Later, in 2016, in the dispute (WT / DS511) “China – Domestic support for agricultural producers”. Finally, in 2018, in the Compliance Panel of the dispute “Russian Federation – Measures on the importation of live pigs, pork and other pig products from the European Union” (WT / DS475), in terms of article 21.5 of the Understanding of the Rules and Procedures Governing WTO Dispute Settlement.
In the academic field, Juan Antonio is a full professor in the Diploma on International Trade Negotiations, organized by the Colegio de Mexico and the Secretariat of Economy, and the Diploma on Health Law also taught by the ELD. Juan Antonio is a member of the Mexican Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, A.C. (AMPPI), where he holds the position of Chairman of the International Treaties Committee for the biennium 2023-2024 and is also a member of the Geographical Indications Committee of the International Trademark Association (INTA), where he was also appointed as Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Agreements and Harmonization of the Geographical Indications Committee.
Juan Antonio works comfortably in Spanish (mother tongue) and English, and communicates fluently in French.
Juan Antonio is a lover of history and geography and in his free time he enjoys running, playing the drums, organizing barbecues and traveling. He aspires to play golf properly and to play in his own rock band.