Brief description of the regulatory framework

The Mexican Biosafety Law covers all GMOs. Policies and decision-making are entrusted to CIBIOGEM (Inter-secretarial Commission on GMO Biosafety), whose members are six State Secretaries (ministries) and the National Council for Science and Technology. The Biosafety Law differentiates between two types of regulated activities:

• Authorization: for the import and placement on the market of GMOs destined to food and/or feed, or further industrialization or processing.

• Permit: for GMOs to be released into the environment in any phase (experimentation, pilot programs and placement on the market).

The competent authority to issue authorizations is the Secretary of Health (Ministry of Health) which is supported by COFEPRIS (Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks). Regarding permits for GMOs of agricultural species, the competent authority is SADER (Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development), with the support of SENASICA (National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality); also, the opinion of SEMARNAT (Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources) must be taken into account. In case of GMOs being wild and forestry species, the competent authority is the SEMARNAT.