Note:  Because of the great importance of the seminar, In Defense of Maize, CIEPAC is publishing a textual reproduction of the conclusions of the forum.

From January 23^-24, 2002, 306 people representing 138 social and civil organizations met in México City in defense of maize. Attendees came from Canada, the U.S., Nicaragua, Mexico City, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Sonora, Sinaloa, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Chiapas, Guerrero, Veracruz, Mexico State, Chihuahua, Michoacán and Oaxaca.

During these two days, 124 Mexican organizations and 13 international organizations (22 regional and national peasant organizations, 27 indigenous organizations, 25 members of academic and research institutions, 46 nonprofit organizations, four religious organizations, two international foundations and eight government institutions) analyzed together the threat that transgenic contamination of indigenous maize and the savage economic opening of the economy pose to maize, biodiversity and the culture of rural communities.

We met to create collectively, from the perspective of the indigenous communities, peasant organizations, and organizations representing civil society, proposals, alternatives and local, national, and international plans of action that would confront the situation of risk to Mexican maize and defend its continuance as the heritage of indigenous communities of Mexico as well as the collective heritage of humanity.

Mexico is the center of the origin, diversity and domestication for corn.  It surpasses every other country in the world in its diversity of strains and variations of corn, especially with the endemic presence of its wild relatives or “teocintles.”  Maize is the nucleus of the peasant economy, base of the diet, and the heart of a culture.  In Mesoamerica, men were created not from mud, but from maize.

Maize is the most important crop in México, with around 3.2 million farmers (most of them with parcels of less than five hectares) who produce more than 18 million tons of corn every year. This constitutes about 60% of all Mexican grain production, on 8.5 million hectares of land.  More than 70% of those farmers plant varieties of native maize.

Because México is the center of corn’s origin, transgenic corn is not permitted in the country, and in 1999 all grants to experiment with transgenic corn in rural areas were canceled.  Last year, U.C. Berkeley and the Zapotec-Chinanteca Union detected transgenic contamination of native maize in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca.  The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) confirmed the contamination on September 18^th, 2001. During the seminar, In Defense of Maize, the INE and CONABIO (decentralized branches of SEMARNAT, in which preside the Intersecretarial Commission of Biosecurity and Genetically Modified Organisms) publicized the results of the analysis conducted by CINVESTAV, at the behest of the INE, on 800 samples of maize seeds obtained in 20 towns in Oaxaca and two in Puebla.  The results showed that in 11 towns in the Valley of Tehuacán, Puebla, and the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca between 3% and 13% of seeds sampled had transgenic strains.  In four towns outside the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca, (Ixtepeji, Tlalixtac, Nochixtlán and Santa María Ecatepec), the study found the highest levels of transgenic contamination, up to 35.38%.  Meanwhile, in the market Diconsa in Ixtlán de Juárez, 37% of the grains tested positive for transgenic contamination.  The findings of the INE and CONABIO suggest that transgenic contamination is not an isolated incident, but something that could be a general phenomenon in other regions of México as well.

The main source of native maize contamination in México is from corn imported from the United States.  Since the launch of NAFTA, the importations of U.S. corn have reached record volumes: approximately 6 million tons per year.  Despite the strong objections of corn producers, corn was included in the NAFTA negotiations, with a compromise of “extraordinary” protection of tariffs on corn until 2008.  The Mexican government has been complicit with importing corporations, many of them transnational, permitting the systematic importation of corn above production quotas and without applying the tariff that was to be the only protection mechanism for national maize producers.

Since the implementation of NAFTA, the domestic price of corn has fallen more than 45%, pushed down by importations without tariffs.  This, in combination with the departure of the CONASUPO program in the end of 1998, left corn production in the hands of a reduced number of companies, commercial and consumer, the majority of which are transnational and are now the principle grain importers for México.  The subsidies in PROCAMPO, the new government program which was to replace CONASUPO, have not compensated for the drop in the price of corn, but rather reduced subsidies by 30% during the same time period.  This political act of decreasing national production has increased our food dependency (25% of all Mexican food consumption comes from imports) and has spread poverty across the countryside.

The United States legalized the commercial planting of transgenic corn in 1996 and has systematically refused to segregate conventional maize from transgenic, and the Mexican government has never demanded this segregation.  Between 1996 and 2001, it is estimated (based upon the proportion of transgenic corn planted in the United States), that Mexico has imported 5.8 million tons of transgenic maize from the U.S.

Diconsa, the state distribution company of basic food products, is considered to be a main source of contamination, because it distributes 600,000 tons of corn annually through it’s 23,000 rural warehouses.  Diconsa imports around one-third of the volume of maize that it commericializes, despite the fact that national harvests are sufficient and it could buy maize from national producers at a fair price.  The INE’s analysis show that Diconsa samples contain very high proportions of transgenic maize (37%).

Therefore, we declare the following: 

·         That maize is the patrimony of humanity, resulting from the work of domestication of indigenous and rural peoples in Mesoamerica for more than 10,000 years.  It is not the patrimony of transnational corporations.

·         That transgenic contamination of native varieties of maize represents a harm to the genetic memory of traditional Mexican agriculture, that could be irreparable.

·         That agricultural and commercial policies damage national corn production, which is the nucleus of rural economy and organization, and also damage food sovereignty.

·         That corn represents more than 10,000 years of culture and is the heritage of the indigenous and rural communities and peoples of Mexico.  The cultivation of maize is the heart of community resistance. 

We demand of the Mexican government: 

1.       Actions of internal policies;

• To declare maize as a strategic resource for national security, and to establish policies of protection and promotion, given that it is the crop that provides the basic alimentation of the population, it is the crop that the majority of rural producers grow and it is the main crop that the peoples of México have developed and maintain their material and symbolic culture. 
• To revise agrarian, agricultural and commercial policies, the true cause of the crisis in the Mexican countryside.  To revise the agricultural chapter of NAFTA, specifically the part relative to the trading of basic grains, in order to reverse the effects of systematic dumping practiced by U.S. agro-exporters and the large importing companies that harm the rural and Mexican economies. 
• Price and subsidy policies should compensate for the loss of profitability of corn production, and should be oriented towards strengthening the rural economy and small producers. 
• Because Mexico is the center of origin, diversity and domestication of maize, the government should immediately suspend all imports of transgenic corn from the U.S., which is the main source of contamination of Mexican corn.  The government should also give obligatory legal character to the de facto moratorium on the liberalization of commercial planting or experiments with transgenic corn.
• Additionally, detain the planting and mobilization on national territory of other transgenic grains and seeds such as soya bean, cotton and canola, as well as experiments in the countryside with transgenic organisms.  Facing the absence of a regulatory framework and a policy sufficiently consulted with Mexican citizens, appealing the precautionary principle recognized in the Agreement on Biological Diversity signed by our country in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. 
• We demand that maize should only be imported when the national harvest is insufficient to cover demand, and after national production has been commercialized, previous segregation of transgenic corn verified at the border.  Not even one ton of corn above the quota allowed without tariffs should be permitted to enter the country.  Any volume above this quota should be charged the  maximum tariff permitted under NAFTA.  The government should value the principle of food sovereignty and give priority to the consumption of Mexican corn.
• Diconsa, the state rural supply company, should not import one more kilo of maize, but it should prioritize the direct purchase from Mexican producer organizations at a fair price.  Given that Diconsa’s supply contains imported and transgenic maize, it is the responsibility of the Mexican government to withdraw the supply of transgenic corn from the rural stores and to alert about the dangers of planting transgenic corn to native varieties.  In addition, the government should inform the consuming population about the content of transgenic corn. 
• It is the government’s responsibility to officially establish the magnitude and sources of transgenic contamination, the populations of native and wild corns affected, and the communities in which they are found, the types of genes that have been introduced, and the companies that own the patents involved. 
• We demand the expulsion from the country of multinational corporations that could be responsible for the transgenic contamination, such as Monsanto, Novartis, DuPont and Aventis, because of the damage they have caused.
• Once the responsibility of the companies is determined, the Mexican government should demand that they assume the costs of a plan of cleaning the contaminated spaces, taking into account the possible compensations necessary for the peoples, communities or consumers affected by the contamination of their lands, damage or loss of production, the rejection in the market, or the undesired consumption of products containing transgenics.  Additionally, the government should economically support the recuperation and  use of traditional seeds, by the communities for themselves, and not through government programs.
• Consequently, the government should completely prohibit the use of terminator technologies as they constitute a threat to rural culture and to food sovereignty of communities. 
• We demand that the Mexican government oppose the patents on life in Mexico and in any other part of the world.
• We demand that the germoplasm banks in Mexico, including that of the CIMMYT, prove and guarantee that their collections are free from transgenic contamination.
• We demand that the Mexican government constitutionally recognize indigenous rights according to the Cocopa law, as well as complying with Agreement 169 of the ILO in order to guarantee the self-determination of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, and the use and control of their natural resources. 
• We demand that environmental, agricultural and food policies are sustainable, just and sovereign.  These policies should be elaborated together with civil society and based on the self-determination of the peoples of their natural resources, as well as the respect of indigenous rights, conservation of biodiversity and the principle of food sovereignty. 
• The legislative powers should promote legislation on bio-security that enriches indigenous rights, that prevents the loss of the nation’s strategic genetic wealth, that they abide by the Agreement on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on bio-tech security that Mexico has signed.
• Consequently, the government should legally establish that no traditional genetic material completely or in part, can be claimed by rights of intellectual property or subject to bio-prospecting agreements. 
• The government entities responsible for agricultural, food, and natural resource conservation policies should devote resources to research that favors sustainable agriculture.

2.       Actions of foreign policy: 

• We demand that the World Food Summit  recognize the concept of food sovereignty, supported in the strengthening of rural economies, the integral recognition of indigenous and farmers rights, and the full recognition of the Rights of Farmers on a national and international level without conditionality of national laws or international accords that erode these rights. 
• That the governments and companies that have contributed to the transgenic contamination of maize in Mexico pay for the damages caused or their case be brought to the International Court of Justice.
• That the theme of contamination of centers of origin be thoroughly examined at the next conference of the Agreement on Biological Diversity in the Hague, April 2002, and at the World Food Summit in Rome in June 2002, based on the principle of precaution and on local food sovereignty in the entire world.
• That the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Consulting Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), based on the precautionary principle, immediately call for a global moratorium on the release of genetically modified organisms in the centers of origin and diversity of crops.
• That the Senate of the Republic ratify the Cartegena Protocal on bio-tech security, that Mexico has signed.

We demand of the Mexican government and of the governments of the world:

• To put an end to repression and threats to social activists in all of the countries.
• We demand that the French government release José Bové, head of the French Rural Farmers Confederation, and member of Via Campesina, who was jailed for his struggle against transgenic crops and cultural homogenization.
• We demand that the Bolivian government cease the repression of Evo Morales, for his support of the struggle of coca plant growers in his country.
• We demand that the Mexican and Chiapan governments cease the threats against Amado Avendaño, and that they investigate and punish those responsible for the physical violence against him.

We join with the following social organizations and movements: 

• We support the iniciate of the National Assocaition of Commericial Companies (ANEC) to lodge an anti-dumping complaint against the maize importers from the U.S., for the harm they have infringed on national production.
• We join our voices to the popular denunciation registered in September 2001 by Greenpeace and various other organizations before the Federal Ministry of Environmental Protection (Profepa), against the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Food (Sagarpa), Ministry of the Economy (SE), Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), and the Inter-Ministerial Commission of Biosecurity and Genetically Modified Organisms (Cibiogem), because of their implication in the genetic contamination of maize in Mexico.
• We oppose the attempt to legalize the planting of transgenic maize in Mexico, and the approval of the law NOM FITO-ECOL-2001, regarding the requirements for importation, mobilization, and release in to the environment of GMO’s destined for agricultural use in pilot programs and for comercial purposes. 

As a network in defense of maize we propose that we: 

• Promote the grassroots organization of a network in defense of maize that is autonomous, independent, plural, and that includes all involved sectors and people, in order to coordinate actions, information and support of urgent actions from different geographical regions.  To include information and action networks from other countries in this network.
• To circulate the directory of the network of attendees to the seminar “In defense of maize”, and to remain open to include the participation of all interested people. 
• To produce simple and accessible information to use in the communities (communal land owner’s (ejidal) assemblies, schools, grassroots organizations, etc.)
• To work in the ejidal and community assemblies in order to establish the points or agreements to protect traditional seeds and crops.
• Network members can support the communities with information, and also disseminate information through seminars and forum. To support the exchange of people from the city and countryside and vice versa. 
• To promote citizen participation and public debate on all levels of decision making that involve aspects of bio-security, conservation of biodiversity, food sovereignty and indigenous and farmer’s rights. 
• To promote the registration, characterization and reproduction on site of corns and other seeds that are culturally and biologically important for communities and for the country.
• To create local seed banks that are controlled by communities and organizations.
• To create a network of seed exchanges in order to protect the supply of native seeds or seeds free from transgenics. 
• To identify geographic corridors that are similar by climactic zones and/or altitudes in order to establish adequate zones for seed exchanges. 
• To promote the planting of native seeds with good productive characteristics. 
• To form “voluntary committees of vigilance” in communities, in order to attend to problems related to the planting of corn, the introduction of seeds for a new cycle, the arrival of people to communities to explore or investigate, and the arrival of agro-businesses.
• To coordinate ourselves in networks to do self-examinations of genetic contamination of maize in our communities. 
• To carry out a boycott against the consumption of tortillas that presumably contain transgenic corn.  To not consume them in stores, restaurants, or tortillerias. 
• To promote the culture of consumption of native maize.
• To demand through pressure to popular representatives (senators and representatives) that they modify Article 82 of the Health Law so that it is obligatory to label products that are or contain transgenics. 
• To organize a special campaign against the supply of transgenic corn by Diconsa, and to inform about the risks to native varieties, and impede their planting in communities. 
• To promote legal actions from the grassroots of rural producers and city consumers, against those responsible for the contamination of maize: 

a)      Against companies that use and produce seeds of transgenic maize;

b)      Demand accounts from the officials in charge of agricultural policies and conservation who have promoted the contamination.

• Legal actions against the Mexican government for omitting information about contamination of native maize varieties with transgenic maize. 
• To support the actions and mobilizations of the Front in Defense of the Mexican Countryside, establishing mechanisms of detection and vigilance of imported maize at all of the border crossings and to demand the compliance with requirements of quality and quantity.
• To attend the campesino sector forum from May 4-6, 2002 in Tapachula, in preparation for the regional meeting of social movements in Managua, and to present the case of Mexican maize:  transgenic contamination and price decrease.
• To coordinate mobilizations on April 10 “In defense of maize and for fair prices,”  in the different regions of Mexico. 

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