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Vilsack talks GMO ban with Mexican president
Mexico will be phasing out GMO corn imports by 2024. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday to discuss the issue.
Ag Secretary Vilsack told Mexico if the problem isn’t resolved, the U.S. would be forced to consider all options, including enforcing legal rights under the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement. National Corn Growers Association’s Jon Doggett tells Brownfield NCGA is supportive of the U.S. government taking legal action.
“The USMCA was created to deal with problems like this. We have the ability to bring action against whatever nation, Canada or Mexico, where we have a problem. We don’t want to use it, but certainly, it’s something we will use if needed.”
Doggett talked with Vilsack after Monday’s meeting.
“The discussion he had with the Mexican president lasted two hours and it was a good back and forth, but the secretary was very adamant there are provisions under the USMCA that would allow us to bring action against the Mexican government if they move forward on this,” says Doggett. “I think the secretary made a very good argument, not only will this harm U.S. farmers, but this will certainly harm Mexico’s consumers. It’s an important thing for both sides of the border.”
In a statement, Vilsack said some progress was made in resolving the issue. During Monday’s discussion, Mexico’s president reaffirmed the importance of yellow corn imports for Mexico’s food security. USDA is expecting a proposal from Mexico soon, but no solution on the matter has been reached.
“A group of American and Mexican officials will sit down and attempt to work through some things. It will be a short time table and at the completion of that, we hope there will be some sort of an agreement, but if there’s not, the statement Secretary Vilsack released was very clear, we won’t stand for a ban on GMO products when they’re considered safe by governments across the world.”
Tags: biotech, Corn, Mexico, Tom Vilsack, USDA
Why try to force a product on people that they DO NOT WANT for very good reason. PROVIDE ACTUAL FOOD! Not GMO chemical polluted poison. Grow organic healthy corn and alternative crops instead. Improve the soil and people’s health.