Mexico offers the US to postpone the ban on imported transgenic corn until 2025

Mexico proposed to the United States to extend the deadline, from 2024 to 2025, to begin banning imports of transgenic corn for human consumption, as well as to modify a decree to clarify certain related regulations.

The proposal stems from the announcement that the US government could initiate the dispute settlement process within the framework of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC).

If the decree was not clear, the President (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) proposed a modification to make it more clear,” said Raquel Buenrostro, Secretary of the Economy, at a press conference. The Mexican government is already working on these modifications, in order to present the respective changes soon.

On December 1, the United States government asked not to stop its corn exports, both for feed and human consumption, to Mexico.

The White House trade representative, Katherine Tai, repeated this request to Buenrostro at a meeting they held in Washington.

“Ambassador Tai re-stressed the importance of avoiding any disruption to US corn exports to Mexico, both for feed and human consumption, and adhering to a science-based, risk-based regulatory approval process for all. agricultural biotechnology products in Mexico,” the United States Trade Representation (USTR) said then in a press release.

According to the Reuters agency, after a meeting at the end of November in Mexico with the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, López Obrador said that feed grain “is not the issue” and that it could be subject to an annual permit. from the health authority, Cofepris, to continue being imported.

Mexico broke a record in its corn imports from January to September 2022, adding a total of 4,259 million dollars and with an interannual growth of 12.3%, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.

“We do not have the capacity today or in the short term to be self-sufficient,” said Buenrostro, who added that the Mexican government will present the amendments to the decree to the United States at a meeting scheduled for December 16 in that country.

On December 31, 2020, Mexico published a decree in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) calling for the progressive elimination of the use of glyphosate and transgenic corn for human consumption in Mexico.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the decree has the potential to substantially disrupt trade, harm farmers on both sides of the border, and significantly increase costs for Mexican consumers.

Currently, Mexico imports around 40% of its total maize needs. According to the decree of December 31, 2020, transgenic corn for human consumption will be eliminated no later than January 31, 2024.

roberto.morales@eleconomista.mx