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Published in Winter 2004-2005
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Secretariat completes maize
and biodiversity study
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© CEC/Marco Ugarte
Mexico is a world center-of-origin for maize, and its many landraces are a storehouse of biodiversity.
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More than two years after it was first announced and following a lengthy review process, the CEC Secretariat's report on the impacts of genetically modified corn in Mexico was released to the public on 8 November.
At the most general level, the report—Maize and Biodiversity: the Effects of Transgenic Maize in Mexico—concludes that transgenes in Mexican maize are unlikely to negatively impact biodiversity, genetic diversity, or human health. The report observes, however, that specific studies have yet to be conducted in the context of Mexican ecosystems.
The report notes that while modern agricultural practices have real and significant impacts on the genetic diversity of Mexican landraces, current maize transgenes pose no greater risk to landraces or their weedy relatives—the teosintes.
The report also acknowledges important sociocultural issues, stating that some in Mexico feel that introgression of transgenes into maize landraces presents an unacceptable risk to traditional farming, independent of the scientific risks.
An interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder advisory group, chaired by Dr. José Sarukán, makes a number of unanimous recommendations in the report. They recommend, for example, that until adequate research and risk/benefit assessments of the effects of gene flow from transgenic maize to landraces and teosinte have been conducted and more information is made available to Mexico's peasant farmers (campesinos), that the country's current moratorium on planting commercial transgenic maize should be enforced. To minimize the import of living transgenic maize grain, they discuss a number of measures—including milling and labeling of GM maize before it enters the country.
The CEC Secretariat conducted the report under authority of Article 13 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Canada, Mexico, and the United States have made a number of comments on the report, including observations that some of the recommendations do not reflect the report's scientific findings, but rather reflect cultural and social perspectives of the Advisory Group and other entities.
A full copy of the report and the comments of the Parties are available at: <www.cec.org/maize>.
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