We’re a step closer to knowing if the ban on U.S. corn to Mexico is going to stick. In a surprising move that runs completely counter to science, Mexico placed a ban on biotech corn. The U.S. then moved forward with a dispute settlement panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“The panel just completed a public hearing at the end of June, and they will work on a final report that will come out in November,” says Nancy Martinez, fellow Hoosier and Director of Public Policy, Trade and Biotechnology for the National Corn Growers Association.
Martinez was a guest on the most recent Indiana Ag Policy Podcast presented by the Indiana Corn Growers Association and Indiana Soybean Alliance.
Martinez says the lawyers that argued the case for the U.S. made a great argument that the science is on our side and that Mexico did not conduct a full risk assessment before making the decision to ban our biotech corn.
“One thing that Mexico argues over and over again is that their population consumes more corn than anywhere else in the world, so therefore they are at an increased exposure. But the U.S. lawyers made the case that if they did conduct a risk assessment, that would have been part of the risk assessment. Exposure is part of any risk assessment by international standards. So, I thought the U.S. did a great job to combat some of the Mexican arguments, and we’ll have to see in November.”
If for some reason this dispute panel doesn’t go in favor of the United States, the loss of our number one market in Mexico would be huge. But Martinez says the losses don’t end there.
“First, it’s a huge loss for science and biotech. So, if for some reason, the panel decision does not come out in our favor, it would significantly undermine the 1,700 studies that have been done by very good organizations about the science here. Other countries could also follow in Mexico’s steps. They could take measures like Mexico just for the sole fact of trying to knock U.S. imports out of their markets in an effort to prop up their own domestic industries. So, we definitely don’t want that to occur either.”
She adds that innovation would also take a hit. Companies in the biotech corn space would limit investment in that space if the market dwindles. Hear more from Martinez in the Indiana Ag Policy Podcast below or wherever you listen to podcasts.
