Mexico City, Mexico
June 23, 2009
USDA/FAS GAIN report MX 9040
Mexico cancels outdated biotech regulation
Report Highlights:
The Secretariat of
Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishery and Food
(SAGARPA) published in the
Diario Oficial (Federal Register) on
June 22, 2009, a notice cancelling the Mexican Official
NOM-056-FITO-1995, which had established the phytosanitary
requirements for the importation, domestic shipment and
establishment of field trials with organisms that have been
manipulated by genetic engineering. The cancellation of
NOM-0056 took effect on June 23, 2009.
General Information:
Introduction: This report summarizes a notice from the
Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development,
Fishery and Food (SAGARPA) and published in Mexico’s Diario
Oficial (Federal Register) on June 22, 2009
Disclaimer: This summary is
based on a cursory review of the subject announcement and
therefore should not, under any circumstances, be viewed as a
definitive reading of the regulation in question, or of its
implications for U.S. agricultural export trade interests. In
the event of a discrepancy or discrepancies between this summary
and the complete regulation or announcement as published in
Spanish, the latter shall prevail.
Title: Notice of Cancellation of the Mexican Official
NOM-056-FITO-1995, Phytosanitary Requirements for the
Importation, Domestic Shipment and Establishment of Field Trials
with Organisms that Have Been Manipulated by Genetic
Engineering, published on July 11, 1996.
Type of Regulation: Cancellation
Important Dates
1. Publication Date: June 22, 2009
2. Effective Date: June 23, 2009
Products Affected: Genetically Modified Organisms
FAS/Mexico’s Executive Summary:
On June 22, 2009, the
Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development,
Fishery and Food (SAGARPA) published in Mexico’s “Diario
Oficial” the cancellation of the Mexican Official
NOM-056-FITO-1995, Phytosanitary Requirements for the
Importation, Domestic Shipment and Establishment of Field
Trials with Organisms that Have Been Manipulated by Genetic
Engineering.
The notice states that the NOM is no longer necessary due to
more recent March 18, 2005 publication of the Biosafety Law
of Genetically Modified Organisms. However, the implementing
regulations of the Biosafety Law foresee the additional
elaboration of new Mexican official standards to be
developed in accordance with the legislation. The
elimination of the NOM-056-FITO-1995 is not surprising, as
its elimination was first considered in the 2008 National
Standardization Program, which was published in the Diario
Oficial on April 14, 2008.
Background:
On July 11, 1996 SAGARPA
published in Mexico’s Federal Register the official standard
that established the phytosanitary requirements for the
importation of transgenic products and their release into
the environment. Among the important features of this
regulation was the need to obtain a phytosanitary
certificate for the release into the environment of
transgenic products. The NOM also stated the interstate
movement of these materials required notification to the
Mexican General Office of Plant Health. In addition, the
regulation included the requirements and forms to be filled
out during these processes (See MX 6103). However, with the
subsequent publication in 2005 of the Law on Biosafety of
Genetically Modified Organisms and its Operational Rules in
2008, it was only a matter of time before the cancellation
of this NOM-056-FITO-1995.
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