THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO eliminated the restrictions imposed on transgenic cornafter last year of last year he lost the difference solution panel with the United States, carried out within the framework of the Commercial Treaty of North America, T-MEC, whose decision is unappealable.
Through an agreement by the Ministry of Economy, published in the evening edition of the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), The application is left without effect of various provisions on genetically modified corn.
It is about the application of sixth articles, fraction II, seventh and eighth, of the decree that established various actions in the matter of genetically modified glyphosate and corn, which entered into force in February 2023, during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“At the entry into force of this instrument, the references and limitations contained in any administrative act with respect to the articles indicated by this Agreement, They will be without effect ”, The agreement signed by the Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón says.
The document indicates that the dispute solution panel recommended to Mexico make the necessary adjustments, According to the obligations that it has within the framework of the T-MEC.
“That the law on the conclusion of treaties provides, in its article 11, that sentences, arbitration awards and other jurisdictional resolutions derived from the application of international mechanisms for the solution of legal disputes, will have effectiveness and will be recognized in the Mexican Republic ”, So the agreement It is given in compliance with the T-MEC panel failure and its entry into force from the moment of publication is arranged.
In December 2024, after the final report of the panel, the Government of Mexico said it would respect the decision but that it does not share it, since it considers that the contested measures were aligned with the principles of public health protection and the rights of indigenous peoples, established in national legislation and international treaties of which it is part.
On January 23, President Claudia Sheinbaum sent an initiative to reform the Constitution and for the Chamber of Deputies to reform prohibit the cultivation of transgenic corn, which refers to the “conservation and protection of native maize.”
The reform of articles 4 and 27 seeks to declare corn as an element of national identity, whose seeds and cultivation must be free of transgenics.
It is foreseeable that the Congress of the Union approves the reform, given the majority of brunette and allies that it has in both cameras, in addition to having the majority of the government and congresses of the states. It is required that At least 17 local congresses give their endorsement to prosper.
In a case, the following would be included in the Constitution:
“Everyone has the right to nutritious, sufficient and quality food. The State will guarantee it. Corn is a national identity element whose cultivation must be free of transgenics, prioritizing its agroecological management (article 4).
“The State will promote the conditions for integral rural development, with the purpose of generating employment and guaranteeing the peasant population of well -being and its participation and incorporation in national development, will promote agricultural and forestry activity for the optimal use of free land of crops and seeds for transgenic corn planting and with infrastructure works, supplies, credits, training and technical assistance services. Likewise, it will issue regulatory legislation to plan and organize agricultural production, its industrialization and marketing, considering them of public interest (article 27).
