MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A committee in Mexico's lower house of Congress approved two constitutional reforms that would prohibit open-pit mining and fracking, as well as restrict the use of genetically modified corn.
The proposals, passed on Wednesday, will be taken up for discussion by the full lower house after lawmakers return to session in September.
The changes would also prevent the exploitation of water in areas with water scarcity, with the exception of extraction in populated areas for domestic use, according to a statement released Wednesday night.
The changes are part of a package of constitutional reforms presented in February by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, which contains other proposals, including one to restructure the judiciary.
In Mexico, constitutional changes must be approved by a two-thirds vote in the plenary session of the both the lower house and the Senate, and by the majority of local congresses. In the June elections, Lopez Obrador's ruling Morena party and its allies achieved a qualified majority in the lower house and were just two seats short in the Senate.
Lopez Obrador has criticized the mining contracts with private companies signed by his predecessors and says that his administration has not granted any new private concessions in the sector.
The Mexican Mining Chamber (Camimex) opposes the ban on open-pit mining, saying such a prohibition would cause a 1% contraction in the country's GDP and threaten some 200,000 jobs.
Regarding the genetically modified corn, the proposal comes as Mexico and the United States have an ongoing dispute at a panel of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The lower house committee's reform would allow for the entry of genetically modified corn into Mexico only for non-human consumption and only if the grain dos not have the capacity to germinate.