Mexico’s president is certain that Congress will prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified maize in 2025

Claudia Sheinbaum, the President of Mexico, stated on Saturday that she anticipates that Congress will impose a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified corn in the country at the beginning of the following year.

The announcement by Sheinbaum was made the day after a trade-dispute tribunal determined that Mexico’s restrictions on U.S. exports of GM corn are in violation of the USMCA trade agreement.

“With the help of Mexico’s Congress, we are going to reverse this resolution because very soon, in February, they are going to legislate, I am sure, that you can’t plant genetically modified corn,” Sheinbaum stated during a public discussion. Mexico’s Congress is dominated by the governing party.

“We must protect Mexico’s biodiversity in our country … without corn there is no country.”

The implementation of such a ban may result in an increase in the supply of non-GM maize in Mexico, but it will not prevent the importation of GM varieties.

An GM crop is composed of genetic material that is not naturally present in the plant, such as to enhance its resistance to disease. These crops have been extensively adopted by farmers in certain countries, such as the United States. However, critics contend that their safety for human health and the environment is unproven.

When the United States government requested that a dispute resolution tribunal invalidate Mexico’s presidential decree from February 2023, which prohibited the use of genetically modified corn in the production of tortillas and dough, the impasse became more severe.

In addition, the decree promoted the substitution of industrial production for human consumption and animal feed.

Mexico’s economy and agriculture ministries issued a joint statement in which they expressed their disagreement with the ruling, but they pledged to adhere to it. The agencies subsequently stated that the panel’s report exclusively addressed trade between the United States and Mexico.

GM maize is prohibited in Mexico, the country that gave rise to modern corn, due to concerns that it could contaminate indigenous varieties of the grain. In spite of this, the nation is the largest foreign purchaser of yellow maize grown in the United States, nearly all of which is genetically modified.
The 2023/24 crop season is anticipated to see a record importation of 22.3 million metric tons by local purchasers, according to the Mexican government.