U.S. shrugs at Mexico claim of accord on GMO corn

Biden administration officials refused to say more than that they were studying potential resolutions to a blossoming dispute over GMO corn exports on Wednesday, although Mexico’s agriculture minister said an informal agreement already existed. Minister Victor Villalobos said U.S. officials were satisfied with a proposal to delay a ban on the import of GMO corn until 2025, according to a published report.

Mexico is one of the biggest customers for U.S. corn, almost all of which is grown from genetically modified seed. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree in late 2020 to end imports of GMO corn by 2024. Ahead of a U.S.-Mexico meeting last week, López Obrador reportedly offered to wait until 2025 to ban imports of yellow corn, used in livestock feed, which makes up the lion’s share of U.S. corn shipments. White corn is used in making tortillas, an everyday food in Mexico.

“Our U.S. counterparts considered this response satisfactory,” said Villalobos at an event on Wednesday, reported Reuters. “We submitted a document for discussion, possible in the second half of January, where this issue will be definitively resolved.” The time line for restrictions on corn imports could be adjusted again in the future depending on domestic production levels, he said.

“We refer you back to the public statement following last week’s meeting with Mexican officials,” said the Agriculture Department when asked about Villalobos’ remarks. In a joint statement, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the Mexican delegation had presented “some potential amendments” to the GMO corn decree on Friday.

“We agreed to review their proposal closely and follow up with questions or concerns in short order. There is a joint recognition that time is of the essence, and we must determine a path forward soon,” said Tai and Vilsack.

Vilsack has raised the possibility of a USMCA challenge to Mexico’s policy, and there have been forecasts of economic disruption on both sides of the border. Mexican livestock feeders would have to pay higher prices for the smaller volume of non-GMO corn on the world market, while U.S. farmers would lose up to 17 million tonnes of corn sales annually, according to one analysis.

“We find that the researchers overestimate the costs of the ban in both the United States and Mexico,” said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, which promotes “fair and sustainable food, farm, and trade systems.” Given time, U.S. farmers could adjust their corn production to reflect the Mexican decree, said the IATP, especially since Mexico “has announced it will phase in the ban on feed corn.”

The United States is a global leader in agricultural biotechnology and fiercely disputes restrictions on the sale of commodities grown using biotech methods.

To read a FERN story on the issue, “The deep roots of Mexico’s trade dispute with U.S. over GMO corn,” click here.