2023-08-25 22:19:00
Canada announced this Friday (25th) that it will support the United States in its dispute with Mexico over trade in genetically modified maize under the T-MEC, the North American trade agreement (T-MEC).
“Canada will participate as a third party in the dispute resolution procedure launched by the United States,” Canadian Minister of International Trade Mary Ng said in a statement.
“Mexico does not respect the obligations regarding scientific studies and risk analysis,” said the minister, adding that the measures adopted by the government of Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador “could unnecessarily disrupt trade in the US market.”
Last week, the US announced that it had asked for the creation of a dispute settlement panel with Mexico within the scope of the T-MEC, in light of the Mexican decision to restrict imports of transgenic corn.
In 2020, the government of Lpez Obrador banned the production and import of genetically modified maize until 2024. Faced with protests from its northern neighbor, it opted to allow it for animal feed and processing in various industries, until a substitute is found. found for the grain.
Human consumption would be prohibited. But Mexico is self-sufficient in non-transgenic white corn, which forms the basis of the diet of its 126 million inhabitants.
The concession did not please the United States, which in June requested formal consultations to try to resolve the problem.
In the absence of a solution, the government of US President Joe Biden took a step forward “to enforce Mexico’s obligations under the T-MEC,” US trade representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.
The Mexican government, in turn, disagrees and is preparing to defend its position. “Demonstrating that national regulation is consistent with signed commitments and that the contested measures do not have commercial effects” will be its objective, says the country’s Ministry of Economy.
To do so, it will count on the support of the Ministry of the Environment and the Commission for Protection against Health Risks.
American producers pressure the Biden government, which is running for re-election in the 2024 presidential elections, for an agreement to be reached.
Mexico is the second largest buyer of yellow maize in the world and 95% of the cereal comes from the American market, whose production is, in turn, 93% transgenic.
Lpez Obrador wants to preserve the safety of native maize, thus guaranteeing the conservation of the biodiversity of the more than 64 varieties of the grain existing in the country, of which 59 are endemic, and, thus, promoting food free of transgenics.
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