Bombshell: Mexico GMO Corn Ban Sparks Controversy

Yet another nation has joined against the planting of Monsanto’s genetically modified creations, with a Mexican judge launching a complete ban on the growth of GMO corn field trials that were planned to move forward. Here, I will cover the Mexico GMO corn ban and how it evolved over several years.

Specifically, the judge cited numerous environmental risks regarding the implementation of GMO corn into the food supply of the nation, knowing full well that unleashing genetically modified strains of corn into nature can lead to a complete loss of genetic integrity. 

And while the notion is already disturbing, the reality is that we’ve already seen incidents of large-scale genetic contamination on behalf of Monsanto. Going back to the escape of genetically modified wheat in traditional crops, for example, is a perfect example of genetic contamination in action.

Prior to 2012, GM Crops Were Allowed in Mexico

The Mexican government authorized over 200 GM experiments and pilot projects involving GM maize between 2009 and 2012, leading to transgenic contamination in recent years.

Monsanto, and a subsidiary of DuPont, PHI as well as Dow AgroScience requested authorization to grow GM maize on a commercial scale in Mexico., but a ‘people’s moratorium’ has temporarily blocked the biotech companies’ efforts.

In October, 2013, a class action suit, brought by 53 individuals and 20 organizations and represented by Semillas de Vida and Colectivas AC, consolidated the ban. This portion of the story is referring to the beginning of this article.

Mexico Officials: Allowing GM Corn Will Devastate Crops

In 2012, Mexico toyed with the idea of allowing GM cultivation in the country. But environmentalists warned that Mexico, a corn powerhouse, risks damaging its staple commodity if the government gives U.S. firms the green light to tinker with the crops.

If allowed, biotech giants Monsanto, DuPont and Dow would’ve been able to plant GMO corn in 2.4 million hectares (six million acres) of land.

“We are talking about damaging more than 7,000 years of indigenous and peasant work that created maize—one of the world’s three most widely eaten crops,” Veronica Villa of ETC’s Mexico office said.

Global Center of Crop Origination Must Be Protected

Mexico is unlike many other places on earth, in that it is globally recognized as a Vavilov Center, a center of crop evolution and origin. Some of the foods the entire world enjoys came from the fertile Tehuacan Valley or other rich agricultural fields in this country.

If GMO were allowed to ravage these age-old crops, some of the world’s food heritage would be robbed from us all. It is due to the peculiarity of this region of the world that experts are now flocking to support a non-GMO agricultural paradigm.

Mexico’s agricultural biodiversity is beyond rich. It isn’t just the non-GMO corn tortilla we would lose by allowing biotech to get its hands on the land there.

Plant scientists have discovered more than 60 varieties of maize in Mexico – the equivalent of a natural genetic treasure chest, which could be completely spoiled if companies like Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Dupont, Syngenta, etc. were to get their grubby little hands on Mexico’s agricultural real estate.

Even extreme weather situations could be aided by so many types of maize crops, since they thrive in various conditions – from wet to dry, hot or cold.

It is due to Mexico’s agricultural biodiversity that many experts are now coming together to help inform a general public that is still very much ignorant about genetically modified foods in their area. Mexico’s agricultural history and genetic biodiversity hang in the balance.

Mercedes López Martínez, a spokesperson for a Mexican nonprofit organization, Via Organica, whose mission is to promote better nutrition through organic agriculture explained IN 2014 that:

“There is no position of the Mexican people in general regarding GM foods, as the government, violating the constitutional right of the people to healthy food, has not provided information about the risks of these GMO products, which are not even labeled.

However, there is strong opposition from informed and organized civil society organizations, which have demanded that the government apply the precautionary principle, to protect biodiversity and crops of origin such as corn and cotton. Proof of this is the lawsuit filed by individuals and civil organizations that managed to stop all planting of GM Maize in Mexico and that is still on-going.”

Monsanto Demands Removal of Mexican Judge over GM Maize Ban

In December, 2014, judge Marroqun Zaleta threw out the appeals of Mexico’s SEMARNAT (Environment and Natural Resources Ministry), and Monsanto, who were attempting to overturn the previous September court ruling.

In response to Mexico’s GMO corn ban and following two separate rulings to ban the crops, Monsanto made an official request for the removal of the judge.

Rene Sanchez Galindo, the attorney for the group Acción Colectiva, said:

 “. . .the accusation against a Federal Judge by a multinational company, which has been questioned for lying to the world’s population with misleading information about the damage their products cause, and whose employees occupy high positions in governments around the globe; is tantamount to granting a merit badge to the Judge.”

Since 2012, there were 91 applications to plant GM maize in Mexico, all submitted by Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow, and Dupont, with an attempt to take over 90% of the Mexican Maize seed market.

These companies also submitted 89 different legal challenges to the judge who upheld the temporary ban in court, Jaime Manuel Marroquin.

Federal Judge Upholds Mexican GM Ban after Nearly 100 Appeals by Biotech

In late 2015, Mexico’s XII District Court overturned the 2013 ruling that prevented biotech companies from planting genetically modified maize in Mexico. The decision was made by Federal Judge Francisco Peñaloza Heras.

Adding on to the crazy legal battles, it wasn’t long after this announcement that a federal judge, Benjamin Soto Sánchez, head of the second Unitarian Court in Civil and Administrative Matters of the First Circuit, said that the provisional suspension would actually be upheld.

The attorneys for the defenders said:

“The decision by Magistrate Soto Sánchez was issued today…within the appeals process that the community of citizens initiated this past August 19 after the Federal Judge Francisco Peñaloza Heras had refused to uphold the definitive suspension and two days later returned to temporarily suspend [GMO plantings] due to challenges by citizens.”

What’s going on!?

During all of this, Monsanto stated that it planned to double its sales in Mexico, pending the final decision from the courts. The biotech giant already made around $400 million in the country in 2015.

“Our intention is to be able to double the business from here to 2020,” Eduardo Perez, head of regulatory issues for Monsanto in northern Latin America.

Mexico Isn’t the Only One Resisting Biotech’s GMOs

Over the years during this back-and-forth with France and the GMO corn MON 810, numerous other countries took similar actions against GMOs.

• Nations like Hungary have taken a stand against GMO crops and Monsanto, destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds.
• Peru has also taken a stand for health freedom, passing a monumental 10 year ban on genetically modified foods. Amazingly, Peru’s Plenary Session of the Congress made the decision despite previous governmental pushes for GM legalization.
• Russia’s food safety regulator Rosselkhoznadzor announced a complete ban on all US corn and soy imports.
• France has a long history with opposition to GMOs, namely biotech giant Monsanto’s MON 810 GMO maize. The country instituted bans and moratorium’s of the GMO corn crop, often met with resistance from the European Union.
• A decree was signed in Italy which will ban Monsanto’s MON810 maize, one of the two genetically modified crops currently legally grown in Europe and sold commercially.