GM corn and glyphosate science: Documents from Mexico-US trade dispute 

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In February 2023, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a presidential decree restricting the use of genetically modified (GM) corn in tortillas and other minimally processed corn products to protect public health and the environment. The U.S. government challenged those measures as unfair trade barriers under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

In response to the trade dispute, Mexico has produced a series of scientific analyses defending its policies. These documents offer a comprehensive summary, including recent scientific evidence, of health risks associated with GM corn and glyphosate.

CONAHCYT scientific analysis

On Oct. 25, 2024, Mexico’s National Council of Humanities, Science and Technology (CONAHCYT) published a scientific analysis summarizing the evidence of the risks to human health and the environment from GM corn and glyphosate. The evidence underpins Mexico’s precautionary policies to eliminate the use of GM corn in tortillas and to phase out the use of glyphosate.  

Scientific Dossier on Genetically Modified Corn and its Effects: Effects of GM corn on human health, the environment and biodiversity, including the biocultural richness of native corn in Mexico, CONAHCYT, October 25, 2024. English translation prepared for U.S. Right to Know by Babel, a Mexico City translation firm. Here is the document in Spanish. 

In an interview with U.S. Right to Know, Dr. María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, former head of the Mexican science agency, said: “CONAHCYT did an exhaustive review of the scientific literature. We concluded that the evidence was more than sufficient to restrict, out of precaution, the use of GM corn and its associated agro-chemical, glyphosate, in the country’s food supply chains.”

See our news article, New scientific analyses underpin Mexico’s restrictions on GM corn and glyphosate due to health risks, by Timothy A. Wise and Stacy Malkan. November 27, 2024.

Contralinea has published our article and interview with Dr. María Elena Álvarez-Buylla in Spanish.

More media coverage of the scientific analysis prepared by CONAHCYT:

Trade dispute documents and scientific analyses 

As part of the trade dispute, Mexico and the U.S. have submitted reports with hundreds of pages of referenced material that are publicly available in English and Spanish.

Key English language documents:

Dispute documents are available with free registration from the U.S. International Trade Administration site for the trade dispute.

Submissions from NGOs and expert witnesses

Mexican civil society groups and allies in the United States and Canada provided statements to the USMCA trade dispute process defending Mexico’s right to limit GM corn and glyphosate.   

Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the world’s largest biotech trade association, submitted written comments in support of the U.S. position. Full comments in English and Spanish.  

Analysis and resources 

Recent articles by Timothy A. Wise, a journalist with U.S. Right to Know and senior research fellow at Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute, who has been reporting on Mexican agriculture and food sovereignty for two decades. His past analysis and writings on GM corn in Mexico are available on his author page.

More resources

More media coverage