U.S. farmers want to challenge Mexico over GM corn

Farmers in the United States are urging their government to challenge Mexico's impending ban on genetically modified (GM) corn under a regional free trade agreement, warning of billions of dollars in economic damage to both countries. A late 2020 decree by Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador would phase out GM corn and the herbicide glyphosate by 2024. Proponents of the ban say GM seeds can contaminate Mexico's ancient native varieties and point to research that show the adverse effects of glyphosate. Mexico prides itself on being the birthplace of modern corn, but it imports about 17 million tonnes of US corn a year and is on track to import even more this year, experts said. Some in Mexico's government, including Agriculture Minister Victor Villalobos, have signaled that imports of yellow corn for animal feed will not be stopped. US farmers remain cautious as no official documents state this, according to a US agriculture official familiar with recent meetings with ...