G/TBT/W/426  
19 January 2016  
(16-0365)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: Spanish  
 
  PERU - IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS OF 14 NOVEMBER 2012 FOR MORATORIUM 
ON PLANTING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS 
STATEMENT BY MEXICO TO THE COMMITT EE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
4-6 NOVEMBER 2015 
The following communication, dated 15 January 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Mexico. 
 
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1.  Mexico wishes to submit this trade concern over the law establishing the 10-year moratorium 
on the entry into and production of living modified organisms on the national territory (Law No. 29811) enacted by Peru, published on 9 December 2011 in the Official Journal, 
El Peruano . This concern has been the subject of bilateral dialogue with Peru. 
2.  The law establishes a moratorium on the introduction into and reproduction on the national 
territory of living modified organisms (LMOs) for the purposes of cultivation or breeding, including 
aquatic organisms, for release into the environment. The Regulations implementing Law No. 29811 
was published on 14 November 2012 in the Official Journal El Peruano . 
3.  The Law is aimed at buttressing national capacities, developing infrastructure and generating 
the basic guidelines regarding the native biodiver sity, allowing for the proper evaluation of the 
releasing of LMOs into the natural environment. Mexico recognizes the sovereignty of each State 
for the purposes of issuing its technical regula tions to protect the environment; its concerns 
nonetheless centre on the following: 
a. Mexico believes that the provisions of the Regulations implementing the Law could 
violate Articles 5.1.2 and 5.2 of the TBT Ag reement as regards access for conventional 
seed to Peru, by requiring absolute zero presence of GM events in seed, which is 
neither possible nor commercially practical. 
b. Absolute zero does not exist in the setting of thresholds for GM vegetable material, as 
it is a matter of managing a biological product that passes through various stages in its production process and where all existing detection technologies have a margin 
of error and produce mistakes (false positives and false negatives). 
c. The most widely recognized quality standards for varietal identity and purity are those 
established under the seed schemes of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation 
and Development (OECD) and Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies  
(AOSCA). Those seed quality standards recognize that there is some degree of variability inherent in any biological reproduction system and that achieving 100% 
varietal purity is practically impossible and economically unviable. 
d. Mexico therefore believes that Peru may be in breach of the principle laid down in 
Article 2.4 of the TBT Agreement, specifically the need for technical regulations to be based on international standards, given that these provisions are not based on 
international standards. G/TBT/W/426 
- 2 - 
  4.  In the light of the foregoing, Mexico requests that Peru: 
a. Recognize the OECD and AOSCA purity standards and their certification, so as not to 
conduct GMO inspections at its borders. 
b. If appropriate, consider recognizing non-LMO certification issued by third party 
laboratories that are certified by a recognized authority and accepted, by the standards 
of the Peruvian authorities, at the port of loading, instead of subjecting shipments to inspections at the border. 
c. Promote bilateral dialogue with regulatory bo dies that are studying the question of low 
LMO levels in batches of conventional seed, as well as the determination of thresholds and detection technologies. 
d. Take into consideration the position of seed industries of other countries when 
analysing national regulatory measures. 
e. Provide greater certainty by clarifying th e time-frames for implementation and entry 
into force of the measure. 
5.  Mexico is aware that the Ministry of Agricult ure and Irrigation of Peru instructed the National 
Agricultural Research Institute of Peru to draft a proposed amendment to the Regulations 
implementing Law No. 29811, allowing LMO tolera nce limits in imports of conventional seed. 
Mexico would like to know the state of progress in the preparation of this proposal. 
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