US Flails in GM Corn Dispute with Mexico

08/20/2024/by Timothy A. Wise

Closing arguments are in in the U.S. trade complaint against Mexico’s restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn, with the three-arbitrator tribunal set to rule on the matter in November. The legitimacy of the trade agreement itself hangs in the balance.

In the course of the year-long process Mexico has dismantled U.S. claims, showing that its precautionary measures are permitted under the terms of the trade agreement, that its restrictions barely impact U.S. exports, and that it has a mountain of scientific evidence of risk to justify its precautionary policies.

Will the panel let the U.S. use a trade agreement stop a policy that barely affects trade?

The U.S. government requested this formal dispute-resolution process a year ago under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) over Mexico’s February 2023 presidential decree that restricted the use of GM corn in tortillas and phased out the use of the herbicide glyphosate, which is applied to 80% of U.S. corn. Mexico cited evidence of both GM corn and glyphosate in tortillas and other common corn preparations and documented the risks from such exposures, particularly for a Mexican population that eats more than ten times the amount of corn consumed per capita in the United States.

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México retrasa la prohibición del glifosato prevista para el 1 de abril

04/05/2024/by Carey Gillam y Johnathan Hettinger

Después de mantenerse firmes durante más de tres años en sus planes de prohibir el herbicida glifosato a partir del primero de abril, las autoridades mexicanas anunciaron que retrasaban la prohibición.

México mantiene actualmente una disputa comercial con Estados Unidos por su negativa a aceptar el maíz genéticamente modificado (GM), alterado para tolerar la pulverización con glifosato y fabricar toxinas que repelen las plagas, y las autoridades mexicanas han declarado en repetidas ocasiones que consideran tanto el maíz GM como el glifosato una amenaza para la salud de la población mexicana y del medio ambiente.

Sin embargo, menos de una semana antes de que la prohibición entrara en vigor el 1 de abril, las autoridades anunciaron que el uso del glifosato podría continuar hasta que se encontraran otras opciones para el control de las malas hierbas. La medida se tomó en medio de un fuerte cabildeo de poderosas empresas agroquímicas mundiales y la presión de funcionarios comerciales estadounidenses.

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Press Release – Class Action Lawsuit Against Genetically Modified Corn in Mexico

01/15/2024/by Demanda de Acción Colectiva

Great triumph against Monsanto in the defense of native corn, and against glyphosate.
Collegiate Court postpones the proposed resolution of the magistrate Ricardo Gallardo Vara on the injunction in favor of glyphosate and that favors transnational companies.
They recognize the precautionary principle and the precautionary measure against the planting of genetically modified (GM) corn, in view of the probable damage caused by cancer and in favor of the defense of health and biodiversity.

The Collective plaintiff against genetically modified corn celebrates the vote against the resolution of an injunction trial in favor of the Bayer-Monsanto company against the presidential decree for the progressive substitution of the use of glyphosate and prohibition of transgenic corn, presented by the magistrate Ricardo Gallardo Vara, who insists on determining that there is no danger associated with transgenic corn.

In a discussion held yesterday, Thursday, January 4, 2024, magistrates Patricio González Loyola and Jean Claude Tron Petit, mentioned arguments that the plaintiff Collective has presented during the ten years of our legal process, and that support our position of defending the right of present and future generations to the biodiversity of native corn in our country.

Judge Jean Claude Tron Petit highlighted aspects in the draft resolution that need revision, for example, that glyphosate is a deep-acting herbicide that kills the plants with which it comes into contact, which is why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been developed that are resistant to its effects.

He highlighted that the Decree not only has to do with the limitation or regulation of glyphosate, but also with biodiversity and highlighted the resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation of October 13, 2021, which recognizes the effects on biodiversity.

Likewise, the magistrate emphasized that there is scientific evidence that contradicts the information presented by Magistrate Gallardo Vara, such as that of the U.S. Environmental Office, which in 2023 resolved that glyphosate did not represent a serious risk in terms of carcinogenic effects, which in 2023 resolved that glyphosate did not represent a serious risk in terms of carcinogenic affections, a situation that was questioned by interested sectors and which led to a sentence issued by the Federal Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit of that country, ordering said Agency to rectify its considerations, since it did not take into account each and every one of the elements involved. He also highlighted the restriction of the German Parliament in the year 2023 for the use of glyphosate.

He mentioned several lawsuits filed against Bayer-Monsanto by people who have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer that is a consequence of the use of the herbicide, such as the case of Edwin Hardeman, who won a lawsuit for 25 million dollars.

With respect to the decision of the European Commission authorizing the use of glyphosate for ten more years, the result of a controversial vote, he clarified that the use of glyphosate in public spaces was prohibited and that its use is not allowed for the drying or harvesting of vegetable products, especially for food use.

On the other hand, he mentioned studies that confirm the presence of glyphosate in people, particularly in children, in the states of Jalisco and Campeche, and commented on the cases of 10 to 15 countries that have restricted and even banned the use of the herbicide.

Finally, he made a call to be aware of the problems of glyphosate and the damage to native corn and commented that in situations of uncertainty or doubt such as the present one, it is better to apply the principles of prevention and precaution.

Judge Patricio González Loyola, focused his participation on the impact on the environment and health related to this draft resolution, such as the precautionary principle, which he mentioned, is justified, since it forces us to be careful in situations in which the risk may be the factor behind the action in question, in this case, the Decree that Judge Gallardo Vara has insistently tried to attack.

This, because they considered that the Decree is not a prohibition, but a restriction to reduce its use as a precautionary measure in view of the possible effects that glyphosate causes on people’s health and biodiversity.

It is important to have in mind that what is valid in other countries is different from Mexico, since in our country there is a connection between the effects on corn and traditional cornfield crops, which may have a different impact in other countries and cultures.

In Mexico, the consumption of tortillas and other corn products is high, so the impact that glyphosate may have on people deserves to be investigated, taking into account factors that correspond to our socioeconomic reality and our culture, highlighting that this is not present in the evaluations presented in the draft resolution.

It is essential to take up again the statement of Judge González Lozoya in the sense that the issue is controversial, but that the carcinogenic quality of glyphosate by the WHO means that certainty cannot be demanded in cases of presumption of irreversible damage.

Therefore, the Fourth Collegiate Court decided to withdraw the proposed resolution and reconsider it, considering the series of arguments presented by Justices Tron Petit and Gonzalez Loyola, all under the resistance of Justice Gallardo, who had to assume the reconsideration of the resolution.

As the plaintiff collective, we consider that this resolution represents a great triumph for the millions of corn consumers in Mexico, Mesoamerica and the world, by placing the human rights to health, to a healthy environment, to adequate and safe food above all else.

Unfortunately, the Collective has not been considered as a third party interested in the discussions on transgenic maize, however, we will continue to defend the great diversity of native maize in our country, against the purely economic interests of transnational companies, which do not take into account the damage that their genetically modified organisms and toxic agrochemicals cause us.

We will be watching the new project of the magistrate Gallardo Vara, to prevent him from continuing with the logic of favoring companies that are predators of life, the environment and biodiversity and that only seek profit, as is the case of Bayer-Monsanto.

Official press release (in Spanish)

“We are grains of corn from the same ear, we are one root, from the same path.” Otomi poem

EU, con transgénicos y dumping agrícola, va por la soberanía alimentaria de México

12/13/2023/by Timothy A. Wise

La disputa del gobierno estadunidense contra las políticas de México sobre restringir el maíz transgénico es el ejemplo más reciente del mal uso de un tratado comercial para impedir los programas sociales mexicanos y de otros países. Con cinismo e hipocresía, avanza los intereses de las empresas trasnacionales; el costo, la seguridad alimentaria en el mundo.

Estados Unidos persigue tales estrategias, con el objetivo de ampliar sus mercados. De esta manera, disponer de los excesos de granos que sobreproduce y vende a precios bajos.

Sus políticas agrícolas favorecen e incentivan la sobreproducción de cultivos como el maíz, la soya y el trigo. Al mismo tiempo, disminuyen los precios con una oferta que excede la demanda. Estas estrategias sirven a los intereses de los agronegocios, los cuales benefician a la alta demanda por sus semillas, agroquímicos y maquinaria, además de los precios bajos para el forraje, las fabricas de etanol y la comida altamente procesada.

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El dilema mexicano: usar o no el maíz transgénico de Monsanto

10/23/2023/by Rodrigo Bernardo Ortega

El maíz es la especie vegetal central en la alimentación, sociedad, cultura y economía de México, y no podía ser de otra forma, pues en este territorio mesoamericano se originó y se cultiva allí desde hace más de seis mil años.

Todo comenzó en el Valle de Tehuacán, y es de otra parte, el reservorio de 64 variedades de ese alimento, 59 de las cuales son nativas.

Ni que decir de la importancia del maíz en la cultura Maya, pues podemos afirmar, sin temor a equivocarnos, que el maíz era la base fundamental de la sociedad, ya que existe una relación indisoluble del mismo con los grupos humanos que habitaron el territorio desde tiempos prehistóricos y dichas culturas basaron su desarrollo en el cultivo de este cereal; además, esta relación ha permanecido hasta el presente en las poblaciones rurales e indígenas de todo México.

El consumo del maíz inició con un sencillo proceso de calentamiento hasta que la semilla explotara en la forma que hoy conocemos como “palomita de maíz” y más tarde, es casi seguro que también se moliera para producir harina, pero sin duda, el proceso de nixtamalización para la elaboración de la masa para tortillas y tamales es uno de los grandes logros de las culturas mesoamericanas, al favorecer la biodisposición del calcio, aminoácidos y niacina.

Para la época anterior a la conquista española ya los habitantes de Mesoamérica efectuaban un aprovechamiento integral del maíz. Tanto los granos, las hojas, los tallos, como las espigas del maíz, se utilizan con diferentes propósitos.

Todas las partes de la planta, incluyendo las raíces y horcones, sirven como abono o combustible. La caña se utiliza en la construcción como también en trabajo artesanal, ha servido de envolvente, abono, combustible, bebida refrescante o embriagante.

La hoja sirve como envoltura de tamales, para fabricar objetos rituales o artesanales, también como recipiente y para amarrar manojos de hierbas y especias; antiguamente los cigarros venían envueltos en hojas de totomoxtle. El olote, corazón de la mazorca, se emplea como combustible y alimento para animales, como herramienta para desgranar las mazorcas, pulir madera y piezas de alfarería, o como tapón de recipientes.

Actualmente, la industria emplea el maíz como forraje en la alimentación de grandes hatos, y para obtener compuestos químicos comercializados en alimentos, medicinas y cosméticos: azúcar de maíz, dextrosa, miel de maíz, almidón o fécula, aceite, color caramelo, dextrina, malto dextrina, sorbitol, y ácido láctico. También es un recurso energético renovable, ya que de él se obtiene el etanol, que es un alcohol derivado de la fermentación del almidón del maíz, el cual se emplea como combustible para automotores.

Como podemos observar con la exhaustiva descripción anterior, los mexicanos desde siempre han tenido un consumo autosustentable, pero han pasado muchos siglos y las cosas han cambiado de manera absoluta, pues actualmente todo el mercado mundial del cereal está controlado por unas pocas multinacionales, entre las que se destaca por mucho la firma estadounidense Monsanto.

México ha padecido cambios profundos que iniciaron en los noventas el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN): desde el retiro de subsidios directos para el sector agrícola, hasta la desaparición de instituciones públicas que antes ofrecían asistencia técnica para el cultivo del maíz.

En cambio, Estados Unidos se reservó el derecho de inundar a México con su maíz transgénico a muy bajo costo, puesto que es producido de manera industrial en grandes extensiones y como si lo anterior fuera poco, con importantes subsidios a los agricultores estadunidenses.

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Mexico’s Corn Defenders Honored with Environmental Prize

10/19/2023/by Timothy A. Wise

When I arrived in Mexico City nine years ago to research the effort by citizen groups to stop multinational seed companies from planting genetically modified corn in Mexico, the groups had just won an injunction to suspend planting permits. Monsanto and the other companies, supported by the Mexican government at the time, appealed and the farmer, consumer and environmental groups were awaiting a judicial ruling.

I asked their lead lawyer, Rene Sánchez Galindo, how he thought they could hope to overcome the massive economic and legal power of the companies and government. He said with a smile, “The judge surely eats tacos. Everyone here eats tacos. They know maize is different.”

He was right. The next day the judge upheld the precautionary injunction. And he is still right: Ten years after the Demanda Colectiva, a collective of 53 people from 22 organizations, filed their class-action suit to stop GM corn, the precautionary injunction remains in effect despite some 130 company appeals.

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Demanda Colectiva Maíz recibió premio Pax Natura 2023

10/18/2023/by Redacción La Coperacha

La Demanda Colectiva Maíz (DCM) recibió el premio Pax Natura 2023, en reconocimiento de una década de litigo estratégico por la defensa de los maíces nativos en México. Randall Tolpinraud, director de la Fundación Pax Natura, entregó la presea en el auditorio Pedro López del Museo Franz Mayer el lunes 16 de octubre.

La ceremonia de entrega comenzó con un ritual dirigido por Amalia Salas, xochimilca reconocida por la defensa de los derechos de la tierra. Quien dirigió con el “atecocolli” (caracol marino) al auditorio, para agradecer hacia los cuatro vientos a la “madre Tonantzin”, deidad nahua de la fertilidad, “por las semillas y el alimento”.

Mercedes López, representante del colectivo que dirige la demanda, recibió la presea en nombre de su agrupación, que concentra más de diez organizaciones campesinas, así como a decenas de activistas y científicos.

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Us Escalates Mexico Corn Trade Spat With Dispute Panel Request

08/18/2023/by David Lawder

The United States on Thursday escalated its objections to Mexico’s curbs on genetically modified corn imports, requesting a dispute settlement panel under the North American trade pact, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.

The request to send the dispute to arbitrators was announced after formal consultations failed to resolve deep divisions between the two close trading partners over use of genetically modified (GM) corn, widely produced by U.S. farmers.

Mexico’s Economy Ministry said it would defend its GM corn policies before the dispute panel, saying on the social media platform X that they “are consistent with trade obligations.”

Washington alleges that Mexico’s decree banning imports of GM corn used in dough and tortillas for human consumption is not based on science and violates its commitments under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade launched in 2020.

If the panel rules in favor of the U.S. and Mexico fails to comply with its directives, USTR could ultimately win the right to impose punitive tariffs on Mexican goods, which could spark a rare North American trade war.

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High Court Decision on Gm ‘bogus’ Drought Tolerant Maize – Significant Blow to Advancement of Environmental Law in Gmo Decision Making

07/31/2023/by African Centre for Biodiversity

On 27 June 2023, Justice Tolmay handed down her judgment on the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB)’s application to review the decisions of South Africa’s Executive Council (EC): Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act, the GMO Appeal Board, and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which approved Monsanto/Bayer’s genetically modified (GM) drought-tolerant (DT) maize variety MON 86470 for commercial cultivation in South Africa (SA).

According to the ACB, these decision-making bodies merely rubber-stamped Monsanto’s application for authorisation, uncritically accepting its evidence that the GMO poses no threat to human health or the environment and ignoring the contrary expert evidence tendered by ACB’s experts.

In this regard, the ACB contends that the EC had failed to evaluate and engage critically with the lack of evidence of claimed drought tolerance, as well as the information furnished by Monsanto, and conduct a rigorous scientific assessment when it was under a legal duty to do so.

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De la defensa del maíz a la salvación del planeta

07/18/2023/by Victor M. Toledo

En la vida, hay eventos decisivos que en cuanto pasa el tiempo se convierten en parteaguas imposibles de olvidar. Sucesos paradigmáticos que constituyen saltos cualitativos, resultado de la progresiva acumulación de cantidades. El ejemplo universal es el salto del agua que expuesta a la acción del fuego va aumentando grado por grado, pero que al pasar del 99 al 100 se convierte en éter: pasa de líquida a gaseosa. Esto acaba de ocurrir con el acto de celebración de los 10 años por los que un colectivo de 52 ciudadanos, más 22 organizaciones campesinas y civiles logramos detener la siembra del maíz transgénico y su pareja el herbicida glifosato promovidos por cuatro poderosos corporativos agroalimentarios (PHI, Dow, Syngenta y la actual Bayer-Monsanto).

Esta medida, única en el mundo, se logró por la vía legal mediante una acción precautoria que ha detenido las solicitudes de permiso para sembrar maíces transgénicos en México, y que ha sido impugnada decenas de veces (sin éxito) por las corporaciones.

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