Canada chose to join the U.S. in the trade dispute settlement over Mexico’s ban on bio-tech corn, and now we are learning more about why.
Canadian ag groups say they are certain the ban on GM corn will lead to restrictions on other crops. Mexico is a major buyer of canola from Canada.
The Canadian Canola Council says the Mexican government is becoming increasingly hostile toward biotechnology but they need to follow a science-based approach.
“Mexico is a leading market for Canadian canola and canola-based products. In fact, it’s Canada’s agri-food export to Mexico. About 2018 we started to see that there was a lack of approvals associated with ag-biotechnology. And, while more recently, the decrees from Mexico have been focused on GM corn, we did see changes in the Mexican regulatory system that went beyond corn. We need to have regulatory systems that support GM technology, authorized in those markets. We need clear, predictable, science and risk-based approaches to regulation. In the absence of that, I think there’s a concern out there that similar issues could arise in the future. The decree’s more explicitly focused on corn, but there were clearly adjacent issues associated with Mexico’s regulatory system,” said Chris Davidson.
The Canola Council’s hope is Canada’s participation will help re-establish regulatory predictability for the North American AgriFood marketplace.
