Mexico waiting on US proof that GM corn safe for its people, deputy ag minister says
By Adriana Barrera and Cassandra Garrison
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexico is waiting for the United States to prove imported genetically modified (GM) corn is safe for Mexicans, said Deputy Agriculture Secretary Victor Suarez on Wednesday, as a dispute between the two countries plays out under an international trade pact.
In a written submission to a panel of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Mexico, the top buyer of U.S. corn, argued that science proves GM corn and the herbicide glyphosate are harmful to human health and its native varieties, and that its decree to ban GM corn for human consumption is within its right.
The submission was dated January 2024 but was shared publicly on Tuesday by the nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Suarez said the onus is now on the United States to show GM corn is not harming Mexico's population, which consumes a higher amount of corn than many countries through daily diet staples like nixtamalized dough and tortilla.
The United States «argues that the decisions in Mexico are not based on science and that their decisions are,» Suarez told Reuters in an interview. «But we still haven't seen the science of the United States or the companies. We are looking forward to that study with great pleasure.»
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Mexico's approach to biotechnology runs counter to «decades' worth of evidence demonstrating its safety.»
A senior official for the U.S. Trade Representative said, «Scientific authorities, including in Mexico, have consistently found biotech products like corn to be safe over a period of decades.»
Genetically modified corn is widely used to fatten livestock around the world, though some consumers are more
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