Biden urged to hold Mexico accountable on biotech policy
House members seek harmonization on biotech approvals as Mexico hasn’t approved a biotech product since 2018.
A group of 70 legislators led by Representatives Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and Jim Costa, D-Calif. called on the Biden administration to seek assurance from the Mexican government that the country will abide by the biotech provisions committed to under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Since 2018, biotech application approvals by Mexico have come to a standstill, impacting corn, apples, canola, cotton, soybeans and potatoes. President López Obrador also announced the intent to phase out certain agricultural technologies, including biotech corn for human consumption, by 2024.
The USMCA explicitly contains obligations to encourage the efficient processing of biotechnology approvals and requires the U.S., Mexico and Canada to maintain transparent regulatory systems to prevent disruptions to trade in agricultural biotechnology products.
The letter details that with over 90% of corn, soybean and cotton acres produced with biotechnology seeds, the U.S. is the world’s largest producers of biotechnology crops, many of which are grown for export. This includes export to Mexico, the U.S. third-largest agricultural trading partner, which imported $18.3 billion in U.S. agricultural and related products in 2020.