José Díaz Briseño/ Reform Agency Correspondent
Thursday, February 02, 2023 | 06:51
Washington DC, United States.- US senators urged the Biden Administration this Wednesday not to delay more time to activate a controversy under the regional trade agreement (T-MEC) against the decree of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that prohibits the importation of transgenic corn to Mexico as of 2024.
After two senior US officials assured last week that the Mexican proposals to modify the decree are not enough, several US senators demanded that the formal consultation mechanism between States contained in Chapter 31 of the T-MEC be activated without delay.
“What are we waiting for to activate this mechanism? I am tired of talking about this issue, of forming committees and raising my prayers. We believe that the time has come to take action,” said Republican Senator Roger Marshal of Kansas during a hearing with officials of the Biden Administration.
With final data for 2022 still pending, U.S. growers achieved a record 2021 corn export to Mexico of more than 16.8 million tons, and more than 90 percent of these exports involved genetically modified yellow corn for feed.
“Why hasn’t the Biden Administration started the dispute settlement process against Mexico under the T-MEC on this issue of transgenic (corn)?” asked the Republican senator for Iowa, Chuck Grassley, to the same US Executive officials on the trade dispute.
Faced with the questions, the US Undersecretary of Agriculture for Commercial Affairs, Alexis Taylor, responded that at least until this Wednesday, the Biden Administration is still involved in talks with officials of the Government of López Obrador to avoid the start of a commercial dispute under T -MEC.
“At least to this day we are still in a productive dialogue (with Mexico),” Taylor responded.
“We have been very clear that the USMCA gives us a process to follow if we cannot find a solution to this problem and that we reserve all those rights (to initiate a controversy),” said the US undersecretary, insisting that the decree violates various provisions of the USMCA.
In addition to Senators Marshall and Grassley, other US legislators who again denounced Mexico’s ban on the entry of GM corn on Wednesday included Republicans John Boozman of Arkansas, John Thune of South Dakota, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Deb Fischer of Nebraska.
During the hearing, Undersecretary Taylor made it clear that the US will not accept a modification to López Obrador’s decree to allow the entry into Mexico of yellow transgenic corn for fodder in exchange for giving in to a ban on the export of white transgenic corn for human use. .
“In the talks that I have had with my Mexican counterparts, we have discussed extensively and including our exports of yellow corn and white corn,” Taylor said when asked by Senator Fischer, who demanded that Mexico continue to allow the entry of transgenic corn both yellow and white.
Since December, 25 of the 100 US Senators from both parties have already asked the Office of the US Trade Representative to consider all options to deal with López Obrador’s decree on transgenic corn by ensuring that it violates the market access of T- MECH.
For US agricultural producers who need to start the process of preparing their seeds for the 2023 crop, the Biden Administration must pressure the Mexican government to respond promptly to concerns about the López Obrador decree issued on November 30, 2020.
