Mexico answered the US call to show the science behind the limited GMO corn ban. The US didn’t like the response. Now both may be putting their science on the table for third party consideration.
Though Mexico radically slimmed its GMO corn ban to now apply only to white corn used for tortillas and masa, the US remains “distressed1” and driven to call for trade dispute settlement under USMCA2 (formerly NAFTA). The distress is not over the few percent of US corn exports that would be affected — which could largely be filled by US growers of non-GMO white corn. No, it’s the science.
USMCA does not require Mexico to accept GMO corn. It does, however, stipulate that any blockage of trade must have a scientific justification. And both sides have science on their side. But the US is playing one science hand, Mexico, another.
“Unless Mexico knows something that isn’t known by scientific experts the world over, the authors of more than 1,700 studies – many of them independently funded — on the safety of ag biotechnology … then there is no scientific basis for the ban,” said Lynne Finnerty, director of ag & environment communications for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
Not so fast. “…Mexico has the right to its own science, and the country will use it to defend its actions,” says Tim Wise, a senior research fellow at Tufts University and a senior adviser for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a Minnesota-based research and advocacy group.
“There’s plenty of science to justify precaution … on GM corn consumption… It’s not up to [US Secretary of Agriculture] Vilsack to determine what level of tolerance Mexico needs to accept or what constitutes sound science. USMCA doesn’t give the U.S. the right to make those determinations … It mandates that there’s transparency in decision-making and that it’s science-based – not which science.”
As I’ve written about before, an underlying tension is: which science, addressing what issues? The US focuses on the safety of human consumption of GMOs. Mexico raises other areas of scientific inquiry, beyond immediate health concerns, including potential contamination of heritage corn varieties; the global importance of preserving corn biodiversity; cultural heritage and preservation; food sovereignty and security; sustainability, economics, and support for Mexican small and mid-sized producers.
The problem for the US around ‘which science, addressing what?’ goes well beyond corn kernels. If Mexico’s science prevails, with its scientific rationale for the GMO corn ban validated, it undermines the long-standing claims of US ag that GMOs and biotechnology are entirely benign.
BIO’s press release of March 7 (3) is clear. “…the importance of beginning the legal process (is) to not only resolve the dispute with Mexico but also prevent other countries from following suit. The United States must use the dispute mechanisms ..to ensure…domestic policies do not limit the tools U.S. farmers have to sustainably produce food for our ever-growing world population … Sending a strong signal on enforcement will serve as a critical precedent for other trading partners.”
US Republicans continue to sabre-rattle4, calling for declarations of trade violations and dispute resolution. Mexico appears to continue with appeasement. I see little news about it here in the Mexican press, and little on the US side — the US Farm Bill takes news precedence. It’s in simmer-mode. But it needs to be watched. US corporate industrial ag has a way of boiling over, scalding whatever is in its path.
(1) “…science, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, is the foundation of his distress over Mexico’s second presidential decree that seeks to block the U.S. GM white corn from making its way into Mexican food.” Agri-Pulse 02/22/23 ” US counting on science to win GM corn fight, but so is Mexico.”
(2) ..Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., called Mexico’s action on GM corn “a flagrant violation of USMCA” and stressed that the U.S. “should be prepared to pursue a full dispute settlement.” Agri-Pulse 02/22/23 ” US counting on science to win GM corn fight, but so is Mexico.”
(3) BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) Ag & Bioscience Groups: It’s Time for Action on Mexico’s Biotech Corn Ban. March 9, 2023.
(4) Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Mexico’s actions are a “clear-cut example of a partner going back on its word” and stressed that the U.S. has “an obligation to ensure American producers are given the fair access to markets they were promised.”
Uprooted 