Mexico’s Agriculture & Economy Secretariats Pushing to Stop Labeling GMO & Toxic Pesticide Use in Food
Civil organizations warn that, within the framework of the USMCA review, the Secretariats of Economy –headed by Marcelo Ebrard– and Agriculture –headed by Julio Berdegué– are pressuring to prevent the future Regulations of the General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food from including the requirement that the agri-food industry inform consumers –through the use of clear front-of-package labeling– when its products include genetically modified organisms (GMOs, popularly known as transgenic organisms), or if highly toxic herbicides, such as glyphosate, were used during their production.
The Secretariats of Health—primarily responsible—Science, and Environment are also involved in drafting these regulations, and these ministries are allegedly yielding to the interests of transnational corporations. This is despite the fact that in the United States, this industry is required to label foods containing GMOs, the organizations point out. They also note that the federal government is in default, as the regulations should have been published in October 2024. In other words, more than a year and a half has passed without this mandate being fulfilled.