Mexico says it won't modify decree on GM corn ahead of USMCA panel
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[August 22, 2023]
By Adriana Barrera
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico won't make any further changes to a decree
on genetically modified (GM) corn ahead of a dispute settlement panel
requested by the United States through the USMCA trade pact, Mexican
economy minister, Raquel Buenrostro, told Reuters on Monday.
Buenrostro's comments come after the United States last week escalated
its objections to the restrictions imposed by Mexico on imports of GM
corn and requested a dispute settlement panel under the North American
trade pact, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Mexico in mid-February modified an end-2020 ban on GM corn, issuing a
decree to allow its use in animal feed and the making of consumer
products like cosmetics, textiles and paper.
The new decree maintained a ban on GM corn for human consumption,
specifically in the use of making flour for tortillas, which are a
staple of the Mexican diet.
"It's already written ... it's already in the decree," Buenrostro said,
referring to allowing GM corn in animal feed, a key concern for U.S. and
Mexican industrialists.
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"That is why care was taken to give the definition of corn for human
food," she said.
Tortillas in Mexico are made with non-transgenic white corn, in which it
is self-sufficient, but the country imports corn worth around $5 billion
annually from the United States, most of it yellow GM grain for
livestock feed.
The USMCA panel was announced after the failure of formal consultations
to resolve deep differences between the two trading partners over GM
corn.
Washington says Mexico's decree banning imports of GM corn used for
tortillas is not based on science and violates its commitments under the
USMCA, which has been in place since 2020.
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![](../images/082223PIX/news_a65.jpg)
A worker holds GMO yellow corn imported
from the U.S., at a cattle feed plant in Tepexpan, Mexico March 15,
2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha/File Photo
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Mexico's policy, however, is based on science and what the U.S. says
has "no foundation," Buenrostro said.
Mexico has invited its trading partner to work together on
scientific research on the health impact of GM corn, but the U.S.
has refused, according to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador and other Mexican officials.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved GM
corn, and Washington doesn't see any need for more extensive
research that might take years, Buenrostro said.
"(That) makes no sense because if a government cares about people's
health, then they would have no problem doing further research on
the health implications," she said.
Another sticking point between Mexico and the U.S. and Canada is
over energy policy. The United States and Canada demanded in July
last year dispute settlement talks, saying Mexican energy policies
were discriminatory and "undermined" international companies.
Buenrostro said the countries are now working on the wording of an
agreement over the energy dispute to settle their differences
without resorting to a settlement panel.
(Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing
by Anthony Esposito, Sarah Morland and Tom Hogue)
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