Thousands Condemn U.S. and Canada Attempt to Force Mexicans to Eat GMO Tortillas

WASHINGTON — As Mexico responds today to the trade dispute panel’s ruling that its restrictions on  genetically engineered (GMO) corn violate the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, an internationally-supported statement signed by 10,268 individuals and 698 organizations stands with Mexico in its defense of food sovereignty, public health, environmental integrity and indigenous rights.

As Friends of the Earth US demonstrated in its formal scientific comments to the USMCA trade tribunal, Mexico has ample cause for concern about the safety of GMO corn given the population’s large daily consumption of minimally processed corn products such as tortillas. Health risks linked to GMO corn and the herbicides it’s engineered to withstand include reproductive, developmental, neurological, metabolic, microbiome and GI tract-related harms. The petition asserts that Mexico’s democratically elected government should have the right to take measures to protect its people, local farmers, economic development and the environment from the risks posed by GMO corn imported from the United States.