The U.S. will gradually resume accepting livestock imports from Mexico, the Agriculture Department said Monday, with the first shipments subject to existing New World screwworm protocols set for July 7.
USDA suspended livestock imports from the country in May, citing the need for additional measures to slow the northward spread of the parasite.
“Progress has been made in several critical areas since the ports were closed,” a USDA statement on the decision reads.
In its statement, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service noted that flights to disperse sterile flies in Mexico were now operating seven days a week and distributing over 100 million flies. The department also recently sent a group of officials to the country to evaluate the response and provide feedback, which, the statement says, shaped the department’s decision.
“We have not seen a notable increase in reported NWS cases in Mexico, nor any northward movement of NWS over the past eight weeks,” the statement reads.
The administration will gradually open U.S. ports of entry for Mexican livestock between July and September, beginning with the Douglas, Arizona, port on July 7. Between each port opening, the department plans to reevaluate the screwworm situation and determine whether it can proceed based on case numbers and geographical spread.
All imported cattle will have to comply with a treatment protocol established earlier this year or be born and raised in Sonora or Chihuahua states, according to the statement.
Later in July, USDA plans to resume imports via the Columbus and Santa Teresa ports in New Mexico. If the Mexican states of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon adopt measures to screen cattle and bison entering their states, as Sonora and Chihuahua have, USDA will then open the Del Rio, Texas, port to cattle imports in August and the Laredo, Texas, port in September.
“We have made good progress with our counterparts in Mexico to increase vital pest surveillance efforts and have boosted sterile fly dispersal efforts,” Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement. “We are continuing our posture of increased vigilance and will not rest until we are sure this devastating pest will not harm American ranchers.”
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However, even as USDA touts the progress Mexico has made in curbing the virus’ spread, the department is insisting that “additional progress” will be necessary to ensure that the ports remain open.
Agri-Pulse reported last week that Mexico’s government warned Rollins last month that current eradication efforts would not be sufficient to stop the pest’s northward march. Past eradication efforts required the production of around 450 million sterile flies a week, Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Julio Berdegué told Rollins in a May 8 letter.
Both the U.S. and Mexico have plans to bolster sterile fly production and dispersal – the former through an $8.5 million dispersal facility in Texas, and the latter through a converted fruit fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico. Once both are online, they could allow as many as 300 million flies to be dropped weekly in affected regions. However, both are months away from completion.
Since the suspension of livestock trade, Rollins has also unveiled a five-pronged plan to control the parasite, which includes preparing health officials for potential outbreaks and encouraging innovation to buttress fly dispersal efforts.
“We trust Secretary Rollins made this decision with the latest information from USDA staff in Mexico, and we know she will continue holding her counterparts in the Mexican government accountable for eradicating screwworm,” Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement on Monday’s announcement.
“Today’s announcement to reopen key ports of entry is a measured, thoughtful approach by Secretary Rollins to allow some trade while also ensuring the American cattle industry is protected from this pest,” Woodall added.
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