Question about Japan made vs. Mexico made SNES Cartridges!

Okay, so I recently added a Contra III: The Alien Wars to my collection, but when I received it, I realized it looked different than the copy my friend has. I immediately noticed that the copy I got was "Made in Mexico" while my friend's was "Made in Japan." We've tested both games and they both work fine, but I was wondering . . . is my Mexico one a reprint or a pirated copy? If anyone knows the answer to this, please comment, as it would be greatly appreciated. The following are pictures of the 2 cartridges with commentary about their differences.


MEXICO

Here are close-ups of the labels. I apologize for the quality, but if you look REALLY close, the "Made in Mexico" label is of lower quality and seems faded, not to mention, it doesn't have that "glossy" layer on top of it, that makes the label shine naturally in light and such.

Also, for those of you who missed it on the weekend. I updated my Gaming Setup blog with a zoomed out view and my 600TH GAME! Yes . . . I finally hit the big 6-0-0! ^_^ It was a sweet game I hit it with too! Check it out here!