The Mexican government received a request from Washington on Thursday to open a dispute settlement panel within the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) for restrictions on the import of transgenic corn.
The Ministry of Economy (SE) announced in a statement that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) notified him of his intention to settle the conflict with an arbitration panel of Chapter 31 of the T-MEC, in force since July 2020.
The United States considers, according to the SE, that there are provisions that are incompatible with market access and sanitary measures established by the treaty in the “Decree establishing various actions on glyphosate and genetically modified corn” that the Mexican government published in last february.
“The Ministry of Economy is prepared to defend the Mexican position before this international panel and demonstrate: 1) that the national regulation is consistent with the commitments signed in the treaty; and 2) that the contested measures do not have commercial effects”, established the press release.
The friction has grown since the decree issued by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who prevented the use of yellow or transgenic corn for human consumption and set a period of two years for the arrival of this grain intended for fodder.
The annoyance has risen in the United States because Mexico is the second destination of its exports and is the main importer of American yellow corn, which is generally transgenic and is used to feed cattle.
But López Obrador was willing since last March to go to the controversy panel arguing that its measures are to protect the health of consumers.
In the defense of Mexico, the SE announced the participation of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources; the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt), and the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris).
The Mexican agency explained that the next stage is the appointment of the members of the panel, which would announce its decision in the course of 2024.
“The Ministry of Economy reiterates its willingness to comply with the commitments signed in the T-MEC, to act in accordance with the law and to represent the national interest,” he concluded.
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