US sends experts to Mexico to assess resumption of livestock exports

More than a month after the United States closed its border to cattle exports from Mexico,Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Julio Berdegué said that USDA experts arrived in the country on Monday to check on progress in combating the cattle screwworm, a pest that caused the trade suspension on May 11.

As Berdege detailed on his X (formerly Twitter) account, US experts will conduct inspections to assess whether the necessary sanitary conditions exist for the resumption of bilateral trade in live cattle.

The number of active screwworm cases has now dropped to 281 out of 2,095 reported since the outbreak began on November 21, 2023.

The official will accompany USDA officials on their inspection missions as part of a two-pronged campaign to eradicate the pest, which has become one of the most serious health problems facing Mexico's agricultural sector in recent years.

According to the National Service for Health, Safety and Quality of Agri-Food Products (Senasica), the measures taken since last November, when the first outbreak was detected in the country, have already managed to neutralize 1,814 cases of the disease.

The episode has already caused the first temporary suspension of livestock exports, which was partially lifted by February.

On June 2, Berdegué announced a series of meetings with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials in Mexico City to strengthen the national strategy to combat the screwworm, a highly destructive pest of cattle .

As part of the collaborative effort, the United States also approved funding and technical assistance for the construction of a new sterile fly production facility in Chiapas with an investment of US$21 million.

Mexico's proposal, put forward since the state of emergency was declared, aims to strengthen biological control of the screwworm by using sterile flies to prevent the parasite from reproducing.

The visit by USDA officials is seen as a major step toward lifting the United States' permanent ban on Mexican cattle exports , a vital sector for the country's rural economy.