This has been a long-time issue between the two countries.
The restrictions were established in a presidential decree in 2023, but they will no longer be in effect after the resolution of the USMCA Dispute Settlement Panel, which determined that the measures violated the country’s trade obligations.
On Thursday, The Mexican Official Gazette of the Federation published the Agreement that revokes the key articles of the February 2023 decree. Among them, are the provisions that prohibited the use of genetically modified (GM) corn for human consumption and promoted its replacement in the industrial and livestock sector.
This is how it all started.
Mexico banned the use of genetically modified corn for human consumption in a 2023 presidential decree, which included additional provisions advocating for the gradual replacement of biotech grain for animal feed and industrial uses.
In response, the U.S. filed a challenge to a dispute settlement panel under the USMCA, saying Mexico’s ban undermines market access the country agreed to provide as part of the trade pact.
“U.S. corn farmers and exporters understood how devastating this ban could have been had it been implemented, so it’s only right that mechanisms are in place within a trade agreement like USMCA when something like this happens.”
Mexico banned biotech corn over human health concerns and concerns that genetically modified crops could contaminate native varieties. The ban, first announced in 2020, included a prohibition on biotech corn and the herbicide glyphosate, which is widely used by U.S. farms to control pests.
While those restrictions were set to go into effect by the end of 2024, Mexico paused implementation and softened some of the limitations in February 2023. The country paused the ban on glyphosate and instead instructed the government to find and promote alternatives to the herbicide.
It was announced today the Mexican Federal government eliminated restrictions on genetically modified corn and the use of glyphosate in compliance with the ruling issued by the dispute resolution panel of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC).