28 - Mexico's agricultural trade policies: international commitments and domestic pressure

Summary

In April 2003 the Mexican government reached an agreement with more than twenty-five organizations of small-scale farmers through which a restructuring of agricultural policies was envisioned. The so-called agropact came after many months of peasant mobilizations in which market liberalization – scheduled to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – and electoral campaign became intertwined. The flagship of peasant mobilizations was the renegotiation of NAFTA's agricultural chapter. The Mexican government did not accept this demand, but agreed to undertake a comprehensive reform of domestic agricultural policies and activated trade remedies as part of an armour plating in defence of agricultural interests. In parallel to this, Mexico joined the G20 group within the WTO and began actively to call for the suppression of export subsidies and the reduction of domestic supports within agricultural markets. This study shows how agricultural trade policies in Mexico have been modified in response to peasant mobilizations and international commitments. It also shows how Mexico's position within the WTO has maintained an equilibrium between domestic constraints and international imperatives.

The peasant mobilizations and their claims

After the coming into effect of NAFTA the Mexican rural sector and land tenure system were supposed to enter into a transition period of around ten to fifteen years, during which tariffs and quotas would be completely phased out. However, sensitive basic staples were protected under tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), to be progressively eliminated over ten years.