The Unión de Científicos Comprometidos con la Sociedad (UCCS) is concerned by the negative of the Mexican government to install and execute adequate mechanisms to guarantee the protection and biosafety of maize landraces and of other cultivars for which Mexico is center of origin and diversification. This is worrying, given that the possibility of approving experimental GM maize plantings has been enabled after the Mexican government published amendments to the Law of Biosafety for Genetically Modified Organisms (known in Spanish as LBOGM). Such amendments disable the previous Special Protection Regime for Maize, and entail an increasing risk for this and other native cultivars, their stewards (Mexican farmers) and their environment.
In this context, the Food and Agriculture Program of the *Unión de Científicos Comprometidos con la Sociedad* (Mexican NGO devoted to analyze science and society related issues) prepared a statement demanding Mr. Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico, to revise his policies on this subject in order to avoid a potentially irreversible negative impact to the Mexican and world's natural heritage represented by Mexican maize landraces, as well as to food security.
The statement exhibits the main arguments exposed by the scientific community, based on evidence attained through many years of research. We urge the Mexican government to take definitive actions to avoid a potentially irreversible accumulation of patented transgenes in the Mexican maize landraces. This opens unacceptable uncertainties and could significantly affect the possibility of using such germplasm for future crop improvements. This could also impinge risks for food safety. We invite you to sign this statement and support this effort if our summary of scientific evidence and conclusions convince you. We consider this matter of utmost and urgent importance. This invitation to get involved in the protection of the Mexican landraces as a public good for the present and future world's food security, is also a call for an ethical and responsible science, committed with social benefit and a sustainable agriculture.
