USMCA Dispute Panel Rules Against Mexico's GMO Corn Decree
A dispute panel ruled that Mexico's ban on genetically modified white corn, along with its intention to phase out GMO yellow corn for industrial foods and animal feed, violate the NAFTA successor agreement, because they "are not based on relevant international standards, guidelines or recommendations, or on an assessment, as appropriate to the circumstances, of the risk to human, animal, or plant life or health," and Mexico didn't conduct its own documented risk assessment, or base the decree on science.
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The panel's report was released Dec. 20.
Mexico argued that genetically modified corn imports have increased since the decree, and even white corn imports increased in 2024, and so the action is not trade restrictive.
The panel said that fact has no bearing on their analysis "because there is no requirement under Article 2.11 to show actual trade effects, as both Parties accept."
The panel recommended that Mexico bring its corn regulations into conformity with its sanitary and phytosanitary obligations under the deal that it calls T-MEC and the U.S. calls USMCA.
"The Panel accepts that Mexico is seeking to address genuine concerns in good faith, and suggests that such concerns be channeled into an appropriate risk assessment process, measures based on scientific principles, and in dialogue among all USMCA Parties to facilitate a constructive path forward," the decision said.
Mexico's GMO corn policy, which initially was expected to be a broader ban (see 2302150026) has been of high interest to farm-state politicians in the House and Senate, who argued that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative was not aggressive enough in confronting its trading partner (see 2302010047 and 306010078).
After the decision, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said it was a victory for rules-based, science-driven trade. He added, "I urge President [Claudia] Sheinbaum to swiftly comply with the findings of the panel and ensure fair market access for American corn growers, and I look forward to working with President [Donald] Trump and his administration to hold Mexico accountable."