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Mexico Shuts the Door on GM Maize |
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By Diego Cevallos*
Mexico
is closing the door on experimentation with genetically modified
corn varieties. Environmentalists applaud the decision, but biotech
scientists are disappointed.
MEXICO CITY, Oct 23 (Tierramérica) - Ending
the reason for protests by environmental activists, and much to
the frustration of some scientists and multinational corporations,
Mexico has moved to ban experimental fields of genetically modified
(GM) maize. But the gateway into Mexico of transgenic maize, in
the form of unlabeled grain imports, remains ajar.
Mexico, the birthplace of maize, buys some six million tons of maize
from the United States -- and one-third is transgenic. The grain
eventually reaches farmers, and the altered genes contaminated the
traditionally developed native corn varieties, as studies revealed
in 2001.
No one knows for certain if that genetic contamination persists,
but the possibility of it continuing to happen has not been eliminated,
which worries environmental groups and some farmers who fiercely
oppose GM crops. However, some scientists support the development
of transgenic varieties, and argue that cross-pollination of GM
corn with traditional varieties cause no harm and should be no reason
for alarm.
On Oct. 16, Mexico's National Service for Agro-Food Safety and Quality
refused -- for the third time since 2005 -- seven requests to carry
out experimental cultivation of GM maize seeds from the multinational
agribusiness giants Monsanto, Dow Agrosciences and Pioneer.
The refusal was based on the fact that the 2003 law on biosafety
has not been regulated, there is no agreement on which areas of
Mexico are the birthplaces of historic maize varieties, and that
the definition of the so-called Special Regimen for the Protection
of Maize remains pending.
Although these problems exist since the seven requests were first
presented, there were sources in the government who gave hope to
the petitioners that they would be approved.
This led to denunciations from environmental groups, like Greenpeace,
that President Vicente Fox favored the multinational firms and that
he wanted to violate the transgenics law.
"In the end, reason and logic prevailed," Silvia Ribeiro, of the
non-governmental ETC Group (Action Group on Erosion, Technology
and Concentration), a Canada-based campaigner against GM crops around
the world, told Tierramérica.
In contrast, Mexican scientist Luis Herrera, who was among the scientists
who developed the biotechnology for altering the genes of crops
in the early 1980s in Belgium, expressed his disappointment.
"It's true that the ban on experimentation is based on some legal
holes, but beyond that it is an important turn backwards, because
it prevents the evaluation of the real impacts and the benefits
or harm of transgenic maize, which is precisely what those opposed
to such crops are demanding," Herrera said in a Tierramérica interview.
GM crops are controversial in many countries, because of the power
that a handful of multinational firms exercise with this technology,
and because of their potential negative consequences for human health
and the environment -- about which conclusive information is not
yet available.
Maize was domesticated in Mexico thousands of years ago. Today it
remains an essential part of the diet, grown by 3.1 million farmers,
and in some places it is still venerated as a divine crop.
Figures from the National Rural Confederation indicate that some
12.5 million people are involved directly or indirectly with growing
and production of maize in Mexico -- 55.2 percent of the agricultural
population in this country of 106 million people.
According to biotech scientist Herrera, who is pushing for approval
of experiments with GM maize, the Mexican government's refusal to
allow such tests will especially hurt the local farmers, who he
says will not be able to compete with their neighbors to the north,
in the United States, who grow transgenic varieties of maize.
In 2008, as part of the free trade agreements, the quotas and other
barriers for the entry of U.S.-grown maize and beans into Mexico
will be eliminated. And strong resistance is expected from Mexican
farming organizations.
Herrera, who activists accuse of being beholden to the interests
of the biotech multinationals -- which he strongly denies --, says
GM maize has higher yields, and that this has been proven around
the world, such that major producers like China, United States,
India and Iran have adopted the technology.
However, a 2002 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated
that genetically modified maize did not demonstrate higher yield
compared to traditionally produced varieties. The United States
is responsible for more than 60 percent of the global production
of transgenics.
These data are partial, because "it is more than proved around the
world that, on average, the transgenics offer better yields," insists
Herrera, who holds a doctorate in molecular biology and works for
the governmental -- but independent -- Center for Research and Advanced
Studies in Mexico.
The GM seeds that are sold on the global market, maize among them,
have incorporated genetic material from other species in order to
make the plant more resistant to certain pests or to pesticides,
produce higher yields, or more adaptable to the local conditions,
such as soil type or extreme climate.
The transgenic patents developed for commercial purposes belong
to just a few multinational corporations. Farmers who choose to
plant GM seeds must buy them from the firms each planting season
-- they cannot use seeds from the GM crops, or they face legal action.
Most Mexican farmers who grow traditional varieties produce and
use their own seed. But there are also some who pay for hybrids,
varieties that are improved through cross-pollination.
The official ban on transgenic crop experiments should not be seen
as definitive, say activists, who say they will keep their guard
up.
Said the ETC Group's Ribeiro: "I have the impression that the multinationals
think it will be easier to plant transgenics under the next government,"
of the conservative Felipe Calderón (of the National Action Party
- PAN), who takes office in December.
"Those companies are interested in planting in Mexico, because if
here, in its place of origin, they are planting GM maize, then other
countries won't have many arguments left for rejecting it," she
said.
Despite the fact that there was no authorization to grow GM maize
in Mexico at the time, traces of transgenic maize were detected
in rural areas in 2001. Apparently, this genetic contamination has
disappeared, but research to verify it is lacking.
Furthermore, the door remains open to shipments of maize from the
United States, without knowing what portion is genetically modified.
The questions remain: What will be the long-term effect of GM maize
on the environment in general and on traditional maize varieties
in particular? And what will be its impact on a lifestyle and culture
that revolve around this millennia-old grain?
* Diego Cevallos is an IPS correspondent. |
