Mexico proposed to the United States to postpone for one year the entry into force of a ban on imports of transgenic yellow corn, key to the manufacture of fodder and processed human foodreported this Wednesday the Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro.
The official explained that the proposal was made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, during the meeting they held last week in the Mexican capital.
"The president put on the table of the Secretary of Agriculture (postpone the ban) one more year in order to make the transition smoother"Buenrostro said at a press conference.
The government of the United States, the country of origin of 98% of the yellow corn that Mexico bought from abroad in 2021, has warned that the ban on GM imports could harm to the agricultural sector of both nations and raise costs for Mexican consumers.
Vilsack himself pointed out after his meeting with López Obrador that if he did not reach "an acceptable resolution of the problem"Washington could file a dispute within the framework of the T-MEC regional trade agreement, an instance to which the Mexican president said he was willing to go.
Buenrostro recalled that the import that was prohibited "cut" since 2020 it is transgenic corn for human consumption, but he clarified that other genetically modified crops destined for industries other than food will not be affected.
In the case of yellow corn, he explained that the new proposal raises Postponing implementation of the January 2024 ban until 2025 and that the health regulators of both countries jointly investigate possible health effects of transgenic yellow maize.
"If the world is making an energy transition to renewable energy, why not make a dietary transition to healthier foods?"exposed the secretary.
He informed that these approaches have already been advanced to the office of the Trade Representative of the US government, the Department of Commerce and key players in the agro-industrial sector such as the companies Cargill and Bayer.
He said that López Obrador also promised to send "a mission to the United States to explain and put the modifications on the table" raised.
Buenrostro announced that the meeting is scheduled for December 16, although the date is pending confirmation.
Agricultural trade between Mexico and the United States set a record of more than 63,000 million dollars in 2021, according to data from the US government, while the total exchange was more than 661,000 million dollars.
