October 18, 2013
Mexico indefinitely bans genetically-modified corn
A Mexican judge has placed an indefinite ban on genetically-engineered corn after years of deliberation, effective immediately.
Companies like Monsanto and DuPont/Pioneer will no longer be allowed to plant or sell their corn within the country''s borders.
The decision comes nearly two years after the Mexican government had put Monsanto''s genetically-engineered (GE) corn on hold, citing the need for more tests.
According to Environmental Food and Justice, Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. of the Twelfth Federal District Court for Civil Matters of Mexico City ruled that the genetically-engineered corn posed "the risk of imminent harm to the environment." He also ordered Mexico''s Secretary of Agriculture and SEMARNAT (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales), equivalent to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to immediately "suspend all activities involving the planting of transgenic corn in the country and end the granting of permission for experimental and pilot commercial plantings."
With the said ruling, Monsanto and other biotech companies will be required to halt all activities in the country, giving collective action lawsuits initiated by citizens, farmers, scientists and other concerned parties a chance to work their way through the judicial system.
This is a huge victory for the Mexican people, and provides at least temporary protection for the 20,000 varieties of corngrown in Mexico and Central America. The decision comes just days after thousands of people in over 50 countries participated in the global March against Monsanto.