On the day before President Biden was to meet Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the head of the largest U.S. farm group called for prompt resolution of a threat by Mexico to block imports of U.S. corn in one year’s time.
“We want to continue on a path to make sure that we find a solution to that,” said Zippy Duvall of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) on Sunday.
The issue was mushroomed in significance recently, with ministerial-level talks held three weeks ago against the backdrop of a U.S. threat to file a trade complaint against Mexico. Lopez Obrador said he would raise the matter with Biden during a trip to Mexico City for bilateral talks on Monday and the North American Leaders Summit on Tuesday, reported Reuters.
Lopez Obrador signed a decree in late 2020 that would bar imports of genetically modified corn beginning in 2024 and prohibit use of glyphosate, the weedkiller used in combination with many of the GMO corn varieties. Mexico is one of the leading export markets for U.S. corn, almost all of which is grown from genetically engineered seed. As a global leader in agricultural biotechnology, the United States is a fierce defender of the safety of biotech foods.
“The first thing we want them to pay attention to is the GMO issue with Mexico,” said Duvall during a news conference at the AFBF convention in Puerto Rico, referring to two U.S. ag trade officials confirmed by the Senate in late December. Duvall also cited Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s work on the dispute.
After a high-level meeting in Washington on Dec. 15, both sides said they hoped for a resolution in January. A few days later, Mexico’s agriculture minister reportedly said the dispute would be resolved by delaying the GMO ban until 2025, after Lopez Obrador’s term as president expired. Vilsack told reporters last week that Mexican proposals were “in the process of being reviewed” with a reply “at some time in the near future to Mexico.”
To read a FERN story on the corn dispute, click here.