It is highly likely that unregulated genetically modified corn is being planted in Mexico, warns Greenpeace, after denouncing that it found traces of GM crops, banned by law in the states of Puebla, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and in rural areas of the capital district. This is the responsibility of government officials, because they have failed to carry out the required monitoring, Aleira Lara, coordinator of Greenpeace Mexico’s sustainable agriculture campaign, told Tierramérica.

GM seeds could be reaching the farmers accidentally, entering the country mixed in with maize imports coming from the United States, said Lara.

Cultivation of GM crops in Mexico is prohibited by law, even in experimental plots. Environmentalists maintain that the transgenics could seriously harm biodiversity, but the transnational seed corporations and agricultural groups reject that thesis.