IATP Blog (also available in Spanish)
Since Mexico imposed its restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn in tortillas last February as precautionary measures to protect public health and corn biodiversity, the U.S. government has repeatedly justified its challenge to the policies under the countries' trade agreement with the claim that the policies were not based on science.
As U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last August when the U.S. case was filed under the formal dispute mechanism of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), “Mexico’s approach to biotechnology is not based on science and runs counter to decades’ worth of evidence demonstrating its safety and the rigorous, science-based regulatory review system that ensures it poses no harm to human health and the environment.”
Mexico has now filed its formal response to the U.S. in the trade dispute. Published March 5, Mexico shows that it has the latest independent science firmly on its side.
As the Mexican government notes in its 200-page response, “Far from there being a consensus on the safety of GMOs, scientific evidence points to various negative effects on health, on native corn and on the environment, derived from the cultivation and consumption of GM corn.” (119 –quotes from the document are italicized and cited here by their numbered paragraphs since pagination is different in the English and Spanish versions).
In the interest of offering a readers’ guide to this long and technical document, IATP highlights here some of the most important points. We include some quotes in the text and at the end from key academic, civil society and government leaders, who have been instrumental in the decades-long effort to stop GM corn and its companion herbicide glyphosate.
Ten NGOs will submit their formal comments, in eight invited submissions, March 15 in support of Mexico’s restrictions. Canada, as a third party supporting the U.S. complaint, will as well. The U.S. has until March 26 to rebut Mexico’s claims. It is now on the U.S. to respond concretely to the science presented by Mexico.