U.S. to ask Mexico for formal talks over GMO corn dispute -industry sources

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) -The United States plans to request formal talks under its free trade agreement with Mexico over Mexican plans to limit imports of genetically modified corn, two U.S. industry sources said on Monday.

The request is expected on Monday, the sources said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office could not be immediately reached for comment and the White House had no immediate comment. A spokesperson for Mexico’s economy ministry had no immediate comment.

The United States has previously threatened to take the issue to a trade dispute panel under the trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada over the plan, which would ban genetically modified corn for human consumption.

Mexico has said it believes the disagreement with Washington is politically motivated.

The U.S. agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, had said that a trade dispute panel under free trade agreement would be the next step if talks were not successful.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai held talks with Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro over the issue late last month.

Corn for food use comprises about 21% of Mexican corn imports from the U.S., according to a representative from the National Corn Growers Association, citing U.S. Grains Council data.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub in Washington and Tom Polansek and Cassandra Garrison in Chicago; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Tomasz Janowski)