December 20th 2024.
On Friday, the United States emerged victorious in a trade dispute with Mexico concerning genetically modified corn imports for human consumption. The Mexican government had previously attempted to ban these imports, causing concern among growers in the U.S. who rely on Mexico as their biggest export market for corn. However, the recent ruling by a panel of experts convened under the USMCA, the free trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, has been celebrated by U.S. growers as a major win.
Despite their disagreement with the ruling, Mexico's Economy Department has stated that they will abide by it. They explain that while they do not agree with the panel's decision, they believe their measures are necessary for the protection of public health and the rights of Indigenous communities. Nevertheless, they have committed to respecting the ruling.
Mexico has been importing genetically modified corn from the U.S. for many years, with an annual value of approximately $3 billion. This corn is primarily used as livestock feed in Mexico, but in 2020, the country announced plans to ban its use for human consumption, with the possibility of also banning it for animal feed in the future. The U.S. government formally brought the dispute to a settlement panel in 2023, claiming that Mexico's restrictions on GM corn violated the terms of the USMCA.
The U.S. Trade Representatives Office, or USTR, had objected to Mexico's ban on GM corn for human consumption and its plans to eventually ban it for animal feed as well. In their statement on Friday, the USTR declared that the panel had agreed with their legal claims, citing that Mexico's measures were not scientifically based and hindered the market access that they had agreed to provide under the USMCA. This decision was met with praise from the U.S. National Corn Growers Association, with its president Kenneth Hartman Jr. attributing the outcome to the advocacy efforts of corn grower leaders across the country.
Mexico is the top importer of U.S. yellow corn, most of which is genetically modified and used as animal feed. The country does not produce enough feed corn domestically, resulting in their reliance on imports. Corn for human consumption in Mexico is primarily white corn grown within the country, but there is a possibility that processed products, such as corn-meal chips, could contain GM corn. Mexico has raised concerns about the potential health effects of biotech corn, even when used as animal feed, but has yet to provide evidence to support these claims. While they had previously seemed eager to avoid a confrontation with the U.S. on this issue, Mexico had not completely dismissed the possibility of a ban.
In early 2023, Mexico's Economy Department released new rules that removed the specific date for substituting GM feed corn imports. However, the rules still stated that there would be a gradual substitution of GM feed and milled corn, with a future date yet to be determined. Additionally, the potential health effects will be studied by Mexican experts in collaboration with health authorities from other countries. This is a change from the previous version of the rules, which had caused concern among U.S. growers due to the possibility of a ban happening as soon as 2024 or 2025. While the mention of a future substitution remains, the removal of a specific date has alleviated fears of a sudden increase in meat prices in Mexico, where inflation is already high.
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