In Mexico, Reuters reported that Mexico’s lower house approved a constitutional reform to ban the planting of genetically modified (GM) corn. The initiative by President Claudia Sheinbaum comes after a trade-dispute panel ruled in December that Mexico’s restrictions on GM corn, mostly imported from the United States, violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), according to the report. As a result of the USMCA panel ruling, Mexico repealed its import restrictions on GM corn for human, livestock and industrial uses, the report added. With Sheinbaum’s reform approved with 409 votes in favor and 69 against, native corn is branded as an “element of national identity” and GM corn is officially banned from being planted in Mexico. “Any other use of genetically modified corn must be evaluated … to be free of threats to the biosecurity, health and biocultural heritage of Mexico and its population,” the text of the reform states. The reform will now go to the Senate for final approval. More on the story.
Category: Food & Agriculture
