Corporatocracy pushing trade partners to accept genetically modified, sprayed food

Under corporate pressure, the U.S. government insists that GM corn and glyphosate (Roundup) are not only safe but that nations refusing to import them, without sufficient scientific evidence, violate the USMCA (the United States Mexico Canada Agreement). 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, however, is determined to save his country’s heritage, food sovereignty and security, and his people’s health from the impacts of these products.

Mexican president's decrees against GMOs and Roundup

López Obrador has issued two decrees in an attempt to ban GM corn imports and phase out the use of glyphosate (Monsanto's Roundup). The first, issued in 2021, set Mexico on course to completely phase out imports of GMOs and foods treated with the controversial herbicide Roundup, as summarized by IATP (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy) senior advisor Timothy A. Wise [fn]Wise, Timothy. “Mexico to Ban Glyphosate, GM Corn: Presidential Decree Comes Despite Intense Pressure from Industry, US Authorities.” Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 24 Feb. 2021, https://www.iatp.org/blog/202102/mexico-ban-glyphosate-gm-corn [/fn]:

[The law] would phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate and the cultivation of genetically modified corn. . . . 

[T]he government would also phase out GM corn imports in three years and the ban would include not just corn for human consumption but yellow corn destined primarily for livestock.

Big Agriculture turns up pressure

The pushback from the U.S. in response to Mexico's decree was swift. Referring to The Guardian, former Common Dreams staff writer Kenny Stancil explained that the agricultural industry was spearheading the government’s attack on the Mexican decree:[fn]Stancil, Kenny. “Emails Reveal US Officials Joined with Agrochemical Giant Bayer to Stop Mexico’s Glyphosate Ban.” Common Dreams, 16 Feb. 2021, www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/16/emails-reveal-us-officials-joined-agrochemical-giant-bayer-stop-mexicos-glyphosate  [/fn]

[A]grochemical company Bayer [which bought Monsanto], industry lobbyist CropLife America, and U.S. officials have been pressuring Mexico's government to drop its proposed ban on the carcinogenic pesticide.

According to Stancil, The Guardian reviewed internal documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity through an FOIA request. The emails obtained by the Guardian revealed that Mexico was coming under the same pressure that Thailand experienced when trying to rein in Big Agriculture:

[T]he pressure on Mexico is similar to actions Bayer and chemical industry lobbyists took to kill a glyphosate ban planned by Thailand in 2019. Thailand officials had also cited concerns for public health in seeking to ban the weed killer, but reversed course after U.S. threats about trade disruption.

GMOs - expanding markets

How corporate greed foists GM crops on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries was the subject of an article for Common Dreams by retired third-generation Wonewoc, Wisconsin dairy farmer and president of the National Family Farm Coalition Jim Goodman.[fn]Goodman, Jim. “I’m Sorry, Corporate Profit Outweighs the Right to Choose.” Common Dreams, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/corporate-profits-gmo-corn-mexico [/fn] Goodman described the touted benefits the industry claimed GM crops would provide:

It all sounded good, but none of it was true. The real truth was—and this was never mentioned—that these commodity crops were designed to produce vast corporate profit as they helped usher in a wave of corporate consolidation, loss of small farms, declining rural economies, and a foisting of untested GM food on unknowing consumers.

While these GM crops dominate the fields of North America, the seed and chemical companies saw the world as their target for even more profit. Their grants to university researchers, lobbying pressure and campaign contributions to state and federal legislators made GM the so-called face of "progressive" and profitable farming.

To make that goal of international dominance a reality, industry leaders then pressured legislators to ease access to foreign markets. Such corporate control of government has been defined as “corporatocracy.”

A corporatocracy is a system of government in which a corporation, group of corporations or entities run by corporations control the direction and governance of a country

Mexico capitulates

López Obrador eventually succumbed to the pressure, issuing a second decree in 2023 conceding to U.S. demands that Mexico agree to abide by whatever decision is eventually made about GMOs and Roundup by a panel later this year. As Goodman explained, it's all about farmers rights vs corporate profits:

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), note that allowing the ban to move forward (or in simple language, allowing Mexico to protect their farmers, their environment, and their culture) would be catastrophic to America's corn producers, but their real concern lies not with a potential drop in U.S. farm income, but rather a reduction of corporate profit.

In response to U.S. pressure, López Obrador issued a second decree in February 2023 which was more limited in scope yet the U.S. hasn’t backed down. After much pressure, he has agreed to abide by a panel decision which should be reached in March 2024.[fn]Resolution on US-Mexico Corn Dispute Could Come in March, Mexico Says, Reuters, 29 Sept. 2023, https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/resolution-us-mexico-corn-dispute-could-come-march-mexico-says-2023-09-29/ [/fn]

Previous trade agreement had devastating effects

This is not Mexico's first battle to protect its food security. How NAFTA (the North American Free-Trade Agreement), which preceded the USMCA, damaged Mexico’s corn crops and its food security will be explored in the next installment of this GMO and herbicide series.