The US-Mexico Dispute Over GM Corn Safety Could Transform American Agriculture

Authorized by Amy Denney via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Mexico's effort to keep genetically modified corn out of the country is Triggering a trade dispute with the United States and Canada that could affect the future of agriculture.

(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock, Freepik)

The trade dispute hinges on a key question: whether genetically modified (GM) corn poses a threeat to human health.

U.S. trade representatives argue it does not and wants to force GM corn into Mexico. Given that GM seed is utilized in 90 percent of U.S. crops, the dispute could have far-reaching effects should Mexico wines. Beyond the U.S. agricultural sector, it could harm the German and Chinese companies that make and sale these seeds.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Bayer, the company that bought seed giant Monsanto, and Chinese state-owned Syngenta, but has yet to get a response.

A conflict Over Biotechnology

Corn has fed erstwhile trade battles between Mexico and the United States, with Mexican producers previously protesting the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for allowing American corn in without restriction. In the later chapter, Mexico issued a presidential decree in February 2023 that bans GM corn in tortillas and dough and signaled the country’s intention to Gradually replace GM corn in all animal and human foods.

Mexicans march in Mexico City on Jan. 31, 2008, in a march of hundreds of corn producers protesting against the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which liberales maize imports from the United States since Jan. 1. Corn has been a point of contention between Mexico and the United States. (LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)

Canada, which is profoundly integrated into U.S. and Mexican agricultural trade, and the United States Both opposed the ban.

Mexico has kept genetically modified corn from being grown within its borders for 25 years in an effort to defend both citizen wellness and ancient strains of maize.Corn is simply a staff crop eaten in 89 percent of Mexican meals.

The United States has mostly disregarded wellness deals arriving from GM crops and has spent the past year working to prove Mexico’s 2023 decree violates the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The restrictions, originally reduced to go into effect this year, set off a disagreement now in the hands of a USMCA trade panel after Mexico and the United States failed to resolve it through negotiations.

The United States Contends that there's no technological evidence that GM corn is unsafe to eat, a claim Mexico reputes. Mexico says the United States hasn't presented any evidence of GM corn's long-term safety, partially erstwhile Eaten at advanced levels.

Corn consumption is the times higher in Mexico, raising deals among its medical and government leaders about investigation linking GM crops to wellness issues.

Clashing Visions and the Future of Agriculture

The trade disagreement highlights clashing ideological values and interests. Mexico has concerts for public wellness and Indigenous maize. The United States aims to defend American farmers, food security, and the future of agricultural biotechnology.

Ultimately, The three-member USMCA panel has to kind through the arguments, science, and fine points of Indigenous legal rights to make a decision. Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, said the rulining could make cultural and environmental shockwaves.

“If the panel pays attention to the science, they should come to the same conclusion as the Mexican government. If they’re lost by policies and the power behind the technology, it’s going to be different for them to see the reality of the science,” she told The Epoch Times. “This is simply a hugely crucial decision the panel has before them.”

The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, a group that breeds education about the genetic engineering of food, was originally invited to share its opinion with the trade Tribunal, but the offer was revived at the request of the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Mexico’s Case

Mexico filed a 200-page consequence to the U.S. trade vibration composite, which many observers say fullfired the onus of its argument. It offered 66 articles in peer-reviewed journeys pointing to GM corn’s associated wellness risks including incorporated harm to organs, cancer, antibiotic resistance, and reduced atomic content.

Mexico’s decree besides included a ban on glyphosate originalally intended to go into effect on April 1, but the government pushed back that date while researching alternatives available in suitable quantities.

GM corn is tightly wed to glyphosate, the key ingredient in RoundUp and another herbicides. That’s due to the fact that 1 of the most prominent trains in GM corn is opposition to glyphosate, the main ingredient in RoundUp. Monsanto, the German companies making most of the GM corn grow in the United States, calls the corn “Roundup Ready.” A emergence in the usage of glyphosate closely paralleled the emergence in usage of GM corn seed.

Additionally, Mexico’s study included 74 studies and papers on the drawings of glyphosate, pointing to investigation documentation claims found on GM corn and deals that the volume of corn Mexicans eat make the needed for a different safety standard. Mexico’s decree isn’t an outright trade ban but it does make the needed for comfortable reviews for both GM corn and glyphosate.

Thought the language is vague, the decree calls for agricultural groups to offer input to Mexican agents on how to design, promote, and implement alternatives to glyphosate.

The Glyphosate Issue

Glyphosate has become an crucial subject of research, and studies now propose it has respective possible concerns on human physiology.

A 2014 survey published in the diary of Organic Systems looked at 2 decades of information on the rising rates of protecting diseases and their association with glyphosate use. Correlation doesn’t prove causation, but graph after graph of epidemiological data of 22 diseases uncover harp increases that coincide with the accelerating usage of glyphosate.

The survey found highly crucial correlations between glyphosate applications and hypertension, stroke, diabetes prediction and incidence, obesity, Alzheimer's, autoism, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, respective types of cancer, intestinal infections, and more. Researchers utilized the Pearson correlation coefficient, the most common way to measurement correlation.

Additional, Roundup Ready corn and soy in the U.S. were besides found to have highly crucial corrections with many of the same diseases. The authors included that the results of the warrant additional investigation on these relations.

Research done in Mexico has found glyphosate in the urine of children and adults, as well as evidence of it in industrial and native foods.

Unsatisfied With the Science

Mexico has objected to any of the investigation of the United States was dating during negotiations, including sources that were not peer-reviewed, over a decade old, or funded by biotech companies. Mexico besides raised deals about the catch of long-term studies on humans eating GM corn, according to Timothy A. Wise, elder advisor for the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

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