Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico, announced that in February 2025 Congress will legislate on the prohibition of planting transgenic corn, with the aim of protecting the country’s biodiversity.
This was in response to the resolution of the panel of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) on measures related to genetically modified corn.
“With the help of Congress we are going to turn this resolution around because very soon, in February, they are going to legislate, I am sure, that transgenic corn cannot be planted and Mexico’s biodiversity must be protected in our country,” she said during the inauguration of the Regional General Hospital No. 2 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
It was on Friday when the T-MEC dispute resolution panel determined that the restrictions go against the agreement they have in common and that Mexico’s measures are not based on science.
“The panel’s ruling reaffirms long-standing U.S. concerns about Mexico’s biotechnology policies and their detrimental impact on U.S. agricultural exports,” Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative, said in a statement.
The disagreement over the ban on the use of genetically modified corn escalated when the U.S. government convened a resolution panel to overturn the presidential decree of February 2023.
It prohibited the use of genetically modified corn to make tortillas and dough, and called for its replacement in industrial production intended for human consumption.
T-MEC, one of the most successful agreements, says Sheinbaum
The president also highlighted that the T-MEC is one of the most successful agreements, since the economies of the three countries represent 30 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In addition, trade between the three nations increased by 48 percent since 2020.
While the value of bilateral trade — between the US and Mexico — is almost 798 billion dollars and between Mexico, the United States and Canada, it is three times greater than that between the US and China.
As an example of economic integration, he highlighted that of the income generated by Mexicans in the United States, 80 percent is consumed in that country and 20 percent is sent as remittances.
Meanwhile, seven out of 10 farm workers in the neighboring country are Mexican, that is, without them, there would be no food on the tables of American families.
Source: infobae
