WASHINGTON — Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced today achieved improvements to the North American Free Trade Agreement that will enable U.S. agricultural producers to treated more fairly.

“The agreement specifically addresses agricultural biotechnology to keep up with 21st Century innovations,” Mr. Perdue said. “And we mutually pledge to work together with Mexico to reduce trade-distorting policies, increase transparency, and ensure non-discriminatory treatment in grading of agricultural products.

“This is nothing short of a great victory for farmers and ranchers, because locking in our access to Mexican markets is critical to supporting farm income and strengthening rural communities. Mexico has historically been a great customer and partner, and we are happy to have this resolved for our agricultural producers. We now hope that Canada will see the need to settle all of the outstanding issues between our two nations as well, and restore us to a true North American Free Trade Agreement.”