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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Mexico’s bold move this week to reinforce its drive to disparage genetically modified corn and ban imports ignores protests from the Biden administration, adding pressure on the U.S. to follow through with recent threats to initiate a dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The U.S. and Mexico continue to engage over Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s threat to ban genetically modified corn imports, but there were strong signs from senators Wednesday that patience is wearing thin on Capitol Hill for a resolution.
Speakers at a recent White House listening session pleaded with the Biden administration to modernize U.S. regulatory oversight of gene-edited plant products to compete with other countries that have streamlined processes allowing for quicker approval.
Chinese officials have given their blessing to a handful of strains of alfalfa, canola and other crops, offering a sense of optimism that the wheels may be turning on the country’s notoriously slow approval process.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador may have thought he was offering a reasonable compromise when he told U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that Mexico would remain open to importing genetically modified feed corn, but American farmers don’t see it that way.
Mexico has not publicly ruled on genetically modified plant traits in the four years since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power, but the country’s health regulator Cofepris has been quietly approving and rejecting traits with an apparent bias against glyphosate-resistant corn seeds, according to U.S. government and industry sources.
Gene-edited fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops are likely to hit the market in increasing numbers over the next five years to meet consumer demand for improved traits, according to a report by Rabobank.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Thursday that the U.S. and Kenya will begin developing closer ties under a deal that would improve agricultural trade by addressing non-tariff trade barriers.
