(NewsDakota.com/NAFB) – The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office announced that it is filing a dispute settlement under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in response to Mexico’s ban on biotech corn for human consumption.

The National Corn Growers Association has called on the administration to act and praised the development. “Mexico’s actions, not based on sound science, have threatened the financial well-being of corn growers and rural communities,” says NCGA President Tom Haag (HAYG). Under the agreement, once a dispute settlement gets filed, a group of objective experts will hear the case and make a final determination based on the commitments of both parties under the free trade agreement.

Tai says Mexico’s measures are inconsistent with several of its obligations in the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Market Access chapters of the agreement. “The USMCA was written to ensure that all producers in the three countries have full access to each other’s markets,” says Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.