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Food Sovereignty, Trade and Mexico’s GMO Corn Policies [1]
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Date: 2024-05
The Mexican government announced its plans to transition away from imports of GM corn and the use of glyphosate shortly after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in 2019. These plans were part of a bigger package of reforms intended to strengthen the country’s self-reliance on its food supplies and to move toward agroecological production. It responded to years of concerted efforts by social movements, including successful advocacy efforts and litigation led by the Sin Maíz No Hay País (Without Corn, No Country) campaign to prevent planting of GM corn and protect the country’s cultural heritage and biodiversity.
The initial decree called for phasing out the use of glyphosate and of imports of GM corn by 2024. The revised decree issued in February 2023 continues the phaseout of glyphosate, will eliminate the use of GM corn in flour and tortillas for direct human consumption, and calls for the eventual substitution of GM corn for industrial use and animal feed as non-GM corn becomes available.
U.S. producers and traders of GM corn and their allies in Congress, as well as U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, have complained against these plans since they were first announced, insisting that the policies violate the terms of the USMCA. The formal U.S. request for a USMCA panel on August 17 focused on what the U.S. calls the Tortilla Corn Ban and the Substitution Instruction. The U.S. asserts that the Mexican government’s actions violate Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (food and plant safety provisions) in the agreement, saying the decisions were not based on international standards or risk assessment principles and discriminate against U.S. exports. Even though it does not export corn to Mexico, Canada joined the complaint as a third party.
Under USMCA dispute rules, non-governmental entities may submit requests of up to 1,000 words outlining longer submissions that they would develop to inform the dispute resolution process. Those requests were due on November 7, 20 days after the final dispute panelist was confirmed.
The U.S. government submitted its formal complaint, which was published in December (also available in Spanish). Mexico's response was published in early March (also available in Spanish). For convenience, we offer links to the introduction/summary in English and Spanish. NGO's invited comments are due March 15 and can be views as they are available on our Submissions page.
Visit the USMCA Secretariat website to find official case documents. Register for a free account to gain access.
*Please note that the documents linked above and below were downloaded from the USMCA Secretariat website and shared here for reference.
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[1] Url:
https://www.iatp.org/food-sovereignty-trade-and-mexicos-gmo-corn-policies#usmca-dispute-resources
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