U.S. Establishes USMCA Dispute Panel on Mexico’s Agricultural Biotechnology Measures

On August 17, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the launch of a formal dispute panel under USMCA to address Mexico’s actions to ban the import and use of biotech corn.

The dispute panel request details both the timeline of engagement by USTR over the past six months, and the issues that the panel will be tasked with addressing. In short: USTR has acknowledged that Mexico’s corn decree and recent measures calling for a ban on the use of biotech corn in tortilla production violate key provisions within USMCA’s chapters on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures (Chapter 9) and National Treatment and Market Access for Goods (Chapter 2). ASTA was pleased to see USTR’s announcement and will continue to engage on behalf of ASTA members over the coming year as the process plays out.