Labor Response Mechanism for the Mexican countryside.

Mexican agricultural companies may face investigations over alleged labor rights violations if Mexico, the United States, and Canada finalize plans to expand the scope of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRLM) to include the agri-food sector.

During the National Seed Convention, organized by the Mexican Seed Growers Association (AMSAC), Yazmín Martínez Mezquita, a specialist in international trade and customs law, explained that this mechanism has become one of the main issues that the United States seeks to incorporate into the agricultural sector, following the results it has achieved in the automotive and auto parts industries.

Yazmín Martínez also explained to the newspaper *El Sol de México* that the MLRR is a mechanism provided for in the T-MEC that addresses, through an expedited procedure, complaints of alleged labor rights violations in specific workplaces.

I would like to emphasize that, to date, this mechanism has been used primarily in industrial sectors; however, the United States will seek to expand its application to the agri-food sector.

The minister explained that, if the proposal were to be implemented, these sectors could face legal action related to child labor, forced labor, excessive working hours, freedom of association, collective bargaining, and other working conditions.

Martínez Mezquita also noted that the mechanism has proven to be an effective tool for the United States in other productive sectors, so it will now seek to replicate it in the agrifood sector.