Víctor Fuentes / Reform Agency
Monday, February 13, 2023 | 7:35 p.m.
Mexico City.- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador today replaced his December 2020 decree against genetically modified corn, to clarify that it can continue to be used in animal feed and industrial processes for human consumption.
The new decree, published in the evening edition of the Official Gazette, also extends until March 30, 2024 the deadline for “the development and escalation of actions” that lead to eliminating the use of the herbicide glyphosate in Mexico.
This Tuesday is the deadline for Mexico to explain to the United States the scientific bases of the prohibitions against transgenic corn and glyphosate, an issue that threatens to lead to a panel for violations of the Mexico-United States-Canada Treaty (T-MEC), in the face of complaints from US farmers.
The 2020 decree ordered the complete elimination of genetically modified corn from the diet of Mexicans no later than January 31, 2024, but did not distinguish between the various uses of the grain.
Most of the corn imported from the United States is yellow corn, modified to resist glyphosate, and is used for animal feed or industrial food manufacturing processes.
The new decree now only prohibits this type of grain for direct human consumption in the dough and tortilla sector, but does not set a date to eliminate transgenic corn for animal feed and industrial use, although it continues to state the intention of gradually eliminating it.
“The dependencies and entities of the Federal Public Administration will carry out the actions leading to the effect of carrying out the gradual substitution of genetically modified corn for animal feed and for industrial use for human food,” the document orders.
“While the substitution referred to in the preceding paragraph is achieved, the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) may grant authorizations for genetically modified corn for animal feed and industrial use for human food, being the responsibility of whoever uses it in Mexico that does not have the intended destination in section III of the second article of this law,” it adds.
Regarding glyphosate, it is stated that Conacyt has presented “different viable alternatives, of proven effectiveness and with the potential to dispense with glyphosate and herbicides made from that substance, consisting of bioherbicides and agroecological practices, applicable to any scale of production and for various crops.
It is argued that Mexican universities and companies are developing “five new agroecological herbicides” and that there are seven other alternatives on the international market.
Due to the effect of the 2020 decree, the import of glyphosate was reduced from 8,000 tons in 2021, to some 4,700 in 2022. Producers of corn, sorghum, cotton, and citrus are regular users of glyphosate in Mexico.
The new decree also maintains the prohibition to release genetically modified corn seeds in national territory.
It remains to be seen if this decree will be enough for the United States to be satisfied with the scientific basis for rejecting transgenic corn and glyphosate, an herbicide that has been authorized for decades by the main health agencies in the world.
It is worth mentioning that, since 2022, a federal judge had declared the 2020 decree unconstitutional by protecting the Monsanto company, the inventor of glyphosate, in a ruling that was still subject to review by a collegiate court.
