Transgenic Maize Called Threat to Mexico's Traditional Maize

MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada, November 9, 2004 (ENS) - A report on the impact of genetically modified maize on traditional Mexican varieties published Monday by the environmental commission of the North American Free Trade Agreement has provoked a strong protest from the Bush administration. Most of the world's transgenic maize originates from the United States and U.S. companies.

The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Monday released "Maize and Biodiversity: The Effects of Transgenic Maize in Mexico," which recommends that the current moratorium on planting commercial transgenic maize in Mexico should be enforced, and all transgenic maize should be milled into flour at the border to prevent transgenic seeds from being planted in Mexico.

In addition, the report recommends that the Mexican government should directly notify local farmers that maize grain distributed by Diconsa, the Mexican government food distribution agency, is likely to contain transgenic materials and should not be planted under existing regulations. "This effort should include clear labeling of Diconsa grain bags, containers, and grain silos, and a strong commitment to educating affected farmers about this issue," the report recommends.

The independent report, prepared by the CEC Secretariat, includes a series of key findings and recommendations from a panel of 16 international experts to the organization's governing Council, the environment ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States. The report does not represent the views of the governments of Canada, Mexico or the United States.

In response, both Canada and the United States protested the early release of the report by Greenpeace Mexico, one of the groups that initially asked the CEC Secretariat to conduct this examination.

Transgenic maize, or corn, engineered by the U.S. based corporation Monsanto. (Photo courtesy Monsanto)

An Environment Canada spokesperson said the government was in the process of preparing a response to the report when it was made public by Greenpeace well before the expiration of the 60 day period allowed for comment by governments. "Canada is very disturbed by this breach of process," said Norine Smith, assistant deputy minister policy and communications.

Beyond the annoyance surrounding the report's early release, the Bush administration was scathing in its denunciation of the report's recommendations. "This report is fundamentally flawed and unscientific; key recommendations are not based on sound science, and are contradicted by the report's own scientific findings," the joint EPA and USTR statement said.

"The authors acknowledge that no economic analysis of their recommendations was conducted, and that many of these recommendations are based solely on socio-cultural considerations," the U.S. agencies said.

In September 2001, Mexican government officials reported contamination of local varieties of maize with transgenic sequences in communities in the states of Oaxaca and Puebla.

In January 2002 the Mexican government further reported that in 11 of the communities, contamination levels were between three and 13 percent; in four localities, levels of contamination found were much higher—between 20 percent and 60 percent. In Diconsa stores, 37 percent of the grains were found to be transgenic.

Mexican farmer grows maize in the impoverished district of west Yucatan. (Photo G. Bizzari courtesy UN Food and Agriculture Organization)

In April 2002, the CEC was petitioned by 21 indigenous communities of Oaxaca and three Mexican environmental groups - Greenpeace México, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, and the Union of Mexican Environmental Groups - eventually supported by more than 90 letters from organizations and institutions throughout the three NAFTA countries, urging an analysis of the impacts of transgenic introgression into landraces of maize in Mexico.

A landrace is a crop variety having a broad genetic base and resulting from centuries of development and adaptation to particular soil types and microclimates. Landraces have been improved by local farmers using traditional selection processes, rather than by professional plant breeding methods, and are an important source of diverse genes for plant breeders.

The report of the CEC Secretariat expresses understanding of the local farmers' concern for their traditional landraces, and recommends measures to address their concerns.

"Many aspects of the cultivation and improvement of maize in Mexico need further study, with special attention being given to the role and needs of campesinos, which have largely been neglected," the Secretariat recommends in the section on biodiversity.

"The direct and indirect effects of the cultivation of genetically modified maize on the assemblages of plants and animals, many of them useful, which occur with the maize in milpas and other Mexican agricultural systems, and on biodiversity in the neighboring natural communities, need urgently to be examined and evaluated," the Secretariat recommends.

Nevertheless, the U.S. EPA and USTR contend that, "The report also fails to consider the potential benefits of biotechnology. As the national science academies of Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China and India noted in a joint report, 'GM technology should be used to increase the production of main food staples, improve the efficiency of production, reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and provide access to food for small-scale farmers.' Biotechnology offers the world enormous opportunities to combat hunger and protect the environment."

By contrast, the Secretariat recommends that the Parties - Canada, Mexico and the United States - should adopt policies to reduce the risks identified to a level “as low as is reasonably achievable.”

To accomplish this risk level, the report recommends strengthening the commercial moratorium, labeling all maize imported from the United States as either containing GM maize or else certified as GM-free. No labeling requirement is currently in place for U.S. maize. Canada does not currently export bulk maize to Mexico.

All maize from the U.S. and Canada not certified GM free should be "directed without exception to mills for processing. A required system of ‘end-use certificates’ for all such imports may be an implementation mechanism," the Secretariat recommends.

A Mexican woman displays many traditional varieties of maize at the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, Mexico. September 6, 2003. (Photo courtesy Greenpeace)

The Mexican government should initiate a communication and consultation program with campesinos, farmers, on the benefits and risks of transgenic maize, the Secretariat advises.

"Campesinos should be supported in their efforts to protect and preserve the unique biodiversity in Mexican landrace maize, the Secretariat recommends. "This may involve direct payments to farmers who are willing to sustain their traditional farming operations and adopt breeding practices that preserve landraces in a way that prevents or minimizes the introgression of genes from other sources and localities."

Those recommendations, in particular, angered the U.S. officials, who said, "Implementing many of the report's recommendations would cause economic harm to farmers and consumers in all NAFTA countries and restrict international trade."

"For example, requiring U.S. corn exports to Mexico to be milled at the border would increase the cost of U.S. corn significantly, negatively affecting Mexico's livestock producers and consumers. Milling corn before transport also raises quality concerns and increases shipping costs, exacerbating the problem. Perhaps most troubling, the report itself acknowledges that this and other recommendations would do nothing to preserve maize biodiversity," the U.S. EPA and the USTR said.

Canada too was critical, although in a more measured tone than the United States. "In general, Canada finds the scientific key findings contained in the report to be balanced and consistent with our scientific understanding, our regulatory approach, and accepted international standards. We note, however, that some of the report’s recommendations do not appear to be supported by the scientific evidence presented in the key findings."

"Questions on importing transgenic maize should be decided by a country’s own science-based risk assessment and in the context of a regulatory system which respects a country’s right to set its own level of protection in a manner consistent with its international obligations," Smith wrote on Canada's behalf. She said the report could have provided a better framework for the recommendations, "if there had been a more thorough discussion of the existing domestic regulatory approaches and international obligations of the three governments. For instance, examining the potential consequences of gene flow and the potential impacts on biodiversity are central to Canada’s environmental safety assessment process for novel plant varieties."

Mexico had criticisms about the adequacy of the English to Spanish translation of parts of the report. In addition, Mexico emphasized that the moratorium on planting of transgenic maize was lifted on August 13, 2003, and "work is currently being done to establish policies and guidelines for experimental release of genetically modified maize." The Secretariat, however, directed its recommendation to the commercial release of transgenic maize.

Mexico was concerned about what it called "value judgements" in the following language from the report “In the regions of maize landrace cultivation, there is recent cultural memory and political history among the indigenous peoples of perceived inequity and injustice at the hands of Mexicans of Spanish origin, Americans, and powerful elites.”

Mexico also objected to this statement from the report, “Similarly, those who advocate greater use of genetic engineering and unrestricted trade may have vested interests in aspects of scientific and technical development, trade, political influence, or industrial agriculture in Canada, Mexico and the United States.”

Greenpeace painter expresses his view of transgenic maize as deadly. (Photo by Adan Garcia courtesy Greenpeace Mexico)

Under the banner "the bread against tortillas," Greenpeace caricaturists and painters expressed their concern that transgenic maize equals death by painting skulls on the walls and floor of the party headquarters. The center-right party, which advocates free enterprise and reduced taxes, is in power and forms the government under President Vincente Fox.

The Greenpeacers demanded that genetically modified maize be labeled so that consumers could choose whether to eat such food or not.

Mexico, Canada and the United States all said they are willing to continue discussions on these issues with the CEC Secretariat.

The full report is available on the CEC website at: http://www.cec.org/pubs_docs/documents/index.cfm?varlan=english&ID=1647.