Permits for GMO field trials in Mexico were introduced in 1988, followed by a moratorium that same year due to concerns about contamination of maize landraces, seen as central to Mexican cultural identity and food sovereignty. An inter-ministerial committee on biosafety was established (CIBIOGEM) in 2002 to coordinate biotechnology policy, and a biosafety law was passed in 2005. The regulatory status of innovative agricultural biotechnologies, such as gene editing, is under discussion by CIBIOGEM but has not yet been determined. In 2013, a coalition of civil society actors filed a lawsuit to prohibit the release of GMO maize, and subsequent legal injunctions have suspended the planting of GMO soybean and maize indefinitely. However, in 2018-19, Mexico imported 17,700 MT of GMO corn and 4420 MT of GMO soybeans, mostly from the US, for food and feed grain.
Currently, several key government officials, including the President, Secretaries of Agriculture and Environment, and prominent civil society groups, all strongly oppose agricultural biotechnology in Mexico. The anti-biotechnology movement stresses the importance of preserving agricultural biodiversity using indigenous knowledge systems and agroecological practices. Other scientists and biotechnology advocates argue that Mexico needs agricultural biotechnology, including gene editing, to accelerate scientific innovation and food security, and that government opposition to agricultural biotechnology aligns with an alarming lack of support for basic science. These competing sociotechnical imaginaries are complicated by the approval in January 2020 of US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), that include provisions for enhancing information exchange and cooperation on agricultural biotechnology trade between the three nations, including on gene editing of plants.
Currently, several key government officials, including the President, Secretaries of Agriculture and Environment, and prominent civil society groups, all strongly oppose agricultural biotechnology in Mexico. The anti-biotechnology movement stresses the importance of preserving agricultural biodiversity using indigenous knowledge systems and agroecological practices. Other scientists and biotechnology advocates argue that Mexico needs agricultural biotechnology, including gene editing, to accelerate scientific innovation and food security, and that government opposition to agricultural biotechnology aligns with an alarming lack of support for basic science. These competing sociotechnical imaginaries are complicated by the approval in January 2020 of US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), that include provisions for enhancing information exchange and cooperation on agricultural biotechnology trade between the three nations, including on gene editing of plants.