Thousands Condemn U.S. and Canada Attempt to Force Mexicans to Eat GMO Tortillas

WASHINGTON — As Mexico responds today to the trade dispute panel’s ruling that its restrictions on  genetically engineered (GMO) corn violate the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, an internationally-supported statement signed by 10,268 individuals and 698 organizations stands with Mexico in its defense of food sovereignty, public health, environmental integrity and indigenous rights. 

As Friends of the Earth US demonstrated in its formal scientific comments to the USMCA trade tribunal, Mexico has ample cause for concern about the safety of GMO corn given the population’s large daily consumption of minimally processed corn products such as tortillas. Health risks linked to GMO corn and the herbicides it’s engineered to withstand include reproductive, developmental, neurological, metabolic, microbiome and GI tract-related harms. The petition asserts that Mexico’s democratically elected government should have the right to take measures to protect its people, local farmers, economic development and the environment from the risks posed by GMO corn imported from the United States. 

The tribunal did not reject or disprove that evidence, and instead focused on technicalities: it faulted Mexico for not following appropriate procedures in carrying out a prior risk assessment in consultation with trading partners. In contrast, President Trump’s tariffs – which went into effect on February 1 – are far more economically damaging trade measures implemented with no prior consultation at all. The world is watching this hypocrisy. 

The Mexican coalition Sin Maiz No Hay Pais (Without Corn There is No Country) states, “A trade panel has neither the legitimacy nor the capacity to evaluate the measures adopted by a country to protect the health of its population, preserve its biocultural wealth, and safeguard the genetic reservoir of a crop that, due to its production volume and diversity of uses, is the most important in the world. Therefore, under no circumstances can a trade agreement be above Mexico’s sovereignty.”

See the full statement and list of organizational signatories from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and beyond here.

Contact: Kendra Klein, Friends of the Earth U.S., [email protected]