Mexico’s new decree creates more questions than answers.
The decree still wrongly calls into question the safety of products of agricultural biotechnology for human consumption by creating a non-science-based distinction of corn used for food and corn used for feed and industrial uses.
The decree also does not provide any commitment that Mexico’s regulators will return to a science- and risk-based regulatory approval process for all agricultural biotechnology products in the future.
BIO appreciates the U.S. government’s ongoing efforts to hold Mexico to its USMCA commitments and its recent request that Mexico provide the justification behind its past decree on biotech corn and the rejections of new biotech seed traits. While BIO has supported dialogue to resolve this issue, it has become necessary for USTR to request consultations with Mexico over its treatment of agricultural biotechnology in order to provide a framework and timeline to resolve this issue.