Nebraska’s largest farm organization, the Farm Bureau, and the state’s congressional delegation are cheering actions taken by the Biden administration to challenge Mexico’s ban on genetically modified white corn.
On Friday, Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that the United States has requested dispute settlement consultations under the USMCA, the successor to NAFTA. The ban is aimed at GMO corn used for dough or tortillas,
Mexico is Nebraska’s largest corn trading partner and producers are worried that the impending ban, modified in February, will be expanded to include corn used for feed and commercial use – the bulk of the state’s corn exports.
Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer of Valentine issued a statement calling the administration’s action “yet another important step towards preventing Mexico’s flagrant violation of USMCA.”
Fischer also said “We should use every tool at our disposal to stop this unscientific and economically damaging ban.”
3rd-District Congressman Adrian Smith of Gering, chairman of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, says he wishes the action had come sooner, but is pleased the administration is moving forward.
Smith says “we must always hold our trade partners to their commitments…and I look forward to working with the administration to ensure Mexico abides by the commitments they made under USMCA.”
Reuters reports Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said GMO seeds can contaminate Mexico’s age-old native varieties and has questioned their impact on human health.