Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico’s lower house of Congress on Tuesday approved a constitutional reform to ban the planting of genetically modified (GM) corn, a move that could lead to more tension with the United States after the resolution of a trade dispute, analysts said.
The initiative by President Claudia Sheinbaum comes after a trade-dispute panel ruled in December that Mexico’s restrictions on GM corn, mostly imported from the United States, violate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
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As a result of the CUSMA panel ruling, Mexico repealed its import restrictions on GM corn for human, livestock and industrial uses.
Mexico, the birthplace of modern corn, had already prohibited the commercial planting of GM corn strains, arguing they will contaminate native strains of the grain, but Sheinbaum pledged to officially prohibit the planting of GM corn within its territory via the Constitution.
With Sheinbaum’s reform approved with 409 votes in favor and 69 against, native corn is branded as an “element of national identity” and GM corn is officially banned from being planted in Mexico.
“Any other use of genetically modified corn must be evaluated … to be free of threats to the biosecurity, health and biocultural heritage of Mexico and its population,” the text of the reform states.
The reform will now go to the Senate for final approval.
Mexico buys about US$5 billion of U.S. GM corn each year, mostly for livestock feed.
Some analysts said the reform could spark a new controversy with the U.S. because it also refers to the use of GM corn, and not just the planting of the grain.
The Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA), a major consultancy in Mexico said the government’s decision to strengthen its position against GM corn generates “uncertainty” in the relationship with the United States, its primary source of yellow corn imports, which are mainly dedicated to livestock feed.
“Following the adverse ruling by the USMCA dispute panel, the insistence on these restrictions is likely to trigger retaliatory measures by the US government,” GCMA said in a recent report.
— Reporting by Adriana Barrera
