Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, then President of Mexico, issued a decree in 2020 banning the use of GM corn in food and initiated a program to eliminate GM corn from animal feed. Based on the fact that there was no scientific justification for this action that is also contrary to the rules of the USMCA, the U.S. established a dispute panel under Chapter 31 of the Agreement. This action was taken after failure to achieve a resolution through negotiation.
On December 20th the USTR, Ambassador Catherine Tai announced that the dispute panel had granted the request by USDA to declare the action by Mexico a violation of the USMCA. This decision confirmed that the Decree was not based on sound science and would restrict market access of U.S. corn tino Mexico.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack noted, “We commend the dispute settlement panel for its thorough and impartial assessment which affirms that the approach of Mexico to biotechnology was not based on scientific principles or international standards. The measures taken by Mexico ran counter to decades of evidence demonstrating the safety of agricultural biotechnology underpinned by science and risk-based regulatory review.”
Ambassador Doug McKalip noted, “The panel’s conclusion backs up our long-held position that agricultural trade policies must be grounded in science and must not disrupt trade and agriculture.” He added, “This ruling is a critical step in ensuring the U.S. farmers can continue to compete fairly in the global marketplace.”