Mexico Wants NAFTA Ag Review

Posted by Matt Hopkins|8 January 2008

Mexico’s Permanent Commission – which represents the full Congress during recesses – has unanimously approved a measure demanding that the government review the agriculture chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to protect the interest of five million Mexican farmers.

The elimination of the final tariffs on US produce, including corn and beans – both staples of the Mexican diet – went into effect Jan 1. Small-scale Mexican farmers fear a flood of cheap corn and beans from US producers with greater access to credit, advanced technology, and government subsidies.

President Calderon supports NAFTA’s agricultural provisions, explaining that Mexican consumers have benefited from lower prices, and that Mexico has become an important supplier of fruits, vegetables, and other farm products to the US, even while corn imports have increased.

However, Salvador Manuel Barajas – head of the lower house’s foreign relations committee – proposed that Congress voice ‘energetic’ opposition to a complete opening of Mexico’s ag market, saying “It will not only spark serious social and economic problems in rural communities, but will also provoke greater migration from the countryside to the cities and the US.” Senator Jose Gonzalez Morfin of the governing National Action Party recommended talks between the federal government and peasant organizations to analyze the true impact of tariff removal.