MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hopes Congress will approve a ban on planting genetically modified corn in the country early next year, she said on Saturday.
Sheinbaum's announcement comes a day after a trade dispute panel ruled that Mexico's restrictions on U.S. exports of genetically modified corn violate the USMCA trade agreement.
“With the help of the Mexican Congress we are going to reverse this resolution because very soon, in February, they are going to legislate, I am sure, that transgenic corn cannot be planted,” Sheinbaum said at a public event. Mexico's Congress is dominated by the ruling party.
“We must protect Mexico's biodiversity in our country… without corn there is no country.”
However, such a ban could increase the Mexican supply of non-GM corn, but would not prevent imports of GM varieties.
A transgenic crop contains genetic material that is not found naturally in the plant, for example to better protect against diseases. These crops have been widely adopted by farmers in some countries such as the United States, but critics say their safety for human health and the environment is unproven.
The stalemate intensified when the US government convened a dispute resolution panel to overturn Mexico's February 2023 presidential decree banning the use of genetically modified corn to make tortillas and masa.
The decree also advocated substitutions in industrial production for human consumption and animal feed.
Mexico's economy and agriculture ministries said in a joint statement that they did not agree with the ruling but would respect the decision. The agencies later said the panel's report referred exclusively to trade between Mexico and the United States.
Mexico, the birthplace of modern corn, bans genetically modified corn for fear that it could contaminate native varieties of the grain. However, the country is the largest foreign buyer of American-grown yellow corn, almost all of which is genetically modified.
The Mexican government expects local buyers to import a record 22.3 million metric tons during the 2023/24 agricultural season.
(Reporting by Diego Oré; writing by Alexander Villegas; editing by Rod)
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