The Mexican government has amended its constitution to prohibit the use of genetically modified (GM) corn seeds. It is only the second country to do so.
After signing the reform into law, President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated in a press conference that its primary objectives are to “guarantee biodiversity, food sovereignty, and the health of Mexicans.”
The reform strengthens previous legal action against GM seeds by enshrining the ban in the constitution. It comes on the heels of a ruling that Mexico’s 2023 decree, which sought to restrict the use of GM corn in dough and tortillas and phase out the use of the herbicide glyphosate, violated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The presidential decree cited concerns around human health and threats to native corn varieties.
“If and as GMO [genetically modified organism] corn is planted in Mexico, novel DNA from GMO corn will move via pollen into native corn varieties, and in short order (i.e. one to two decades), contaminate essentially all non-GMO corn in Mexico,” pesticide and agricultural biotechnology expert Charles Benbrook tells Food Tank. “As a result, Mexico would no longer be able to feed its people uncontaminated corn.”
Mexican scientists at the National Council of Humanities, Sciences, and Technologies (CONAHCYT) say that contamination of native varieties with genetically modified seeds threatens biodiversity, climate resilience, and food sovereignty. They also say GM corn threatens human health.
Growers spray GM corn with glyphosate and other herbicides, which are linked to neurological diseases and some cancers, according to researchers at Washington State University and the University of California, Berkeley. The International Agency for Cancer Research of the World Health Organization classifies glyphosate is a “probable human carcinogen.” Animal studies conducted by independent scientists have linked consumption of GM corn to consequences for male fertility, immune response, kidney and liver health, and digestive health.
“Few people in the U.S., including most U.S. corn farmers, understand why Mexico is so worried about what GMO corn could do to their public health,” says Benbrook. “But corn is king in Mexico. It accounts for 60 percent of daily caloric intake.” Unlike people in the U.S., Mexicans largely consume corn in minimally processed forms.
During the USMCA trade dispute, the U.S. insisted that consuming GM corn was safe. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that there were “no risks of concern to human health from current uses of glyphosate.”
But, Benbrook says, “When evaluated and approved years ago, the combined expression level of Bt toxins [the pest-repelling toxins in GM corn] in corn kernels at harvest were almost always less than 10 ppm. Today, most GMO corn varieties express 50 ppm to 100 ppm, and some are over 100 ppm.”
The EPA now reports that it is “updating its evaluation of the carcinogenic potential of glyphosate.”
The recent constitutional amendment does not address Mexico’s concerns over the risks of importing and consuming GM corn and its associated herbicides. But “it sends a strong message to the U.S. that Mexico will not abandon its fight for food sovereignty and healthy food,” says Timothy Wise, a researcher at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University.
Mesoamerican peoples first domesticated corn in what is now Mexico some 9,000 years ago. Today, Mexico represents “the most important center of diversity of the species,” according to Sarah Hearn, Chief Science and Innovation Officer at The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “Conservation of native maize from Mexico is critical, not only from the perspective of cultural and traditional farmer food security, but also for the future of farming,” Hearn tells Food Tank.
President Sheinbaum has described corn as a “national identity,” stating “sin maíz no hay país.” “Without corn there is no country.”
The second part of the reform commits the State to promoting “the conditions for rural, cultural, economic, and health development” and encouraging “traditional crops with native seeds for the optimal use of land free of genetically modified corn crops.”
Shortly after passing the reform, the State of Mexico awarded MX$3.5 million (US$174,458) in financial aid and agricultural equipment to the winners of the First Native Corn and Amaranth Contest in an effort to strengthen native crop production. The State is partnering with research organizations like CIMMYT to advance these efforts.
Wise supports Mexico’s push for greater food sovereignty. “With the U.S. government weaponizing the USMCA to defeat domestic policy initiatives such as the GM corn restrictions, which barely affected trade, Mexico needs to find other ways to grow more of its own corn and other staple foods to give the Mexican people what they overwhelmingly say they want: tortillas made from Mexican corn not tainted with GMOs.”
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