President Donald Trump’s administration warned on Saturday it will restrict livestock imports from Mexico if the Mexican government doesn’t intensify its fight against New World Screwworm.
Washington’s threat came in a letter from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that said Mexico had limited one of the companies hired to conduct aerial spraying to eliminate the pest to flying only six days a week and had imposed “burdensome customs duties” on parts needed to keep its planes in the air.
USDA is only giving Mexico until April 30 to follow protocol to stop the spread of the pest and eliminate current restrictions slowing eradication. If not, the U.S. will halt imports of Mexican cattle, bison and equine.
Buck Wehrbein, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says the threat comes as additional cases of screwworm have been detected in far southern Mexico. At the same time, the sterile insect technique used for eradication has stalled.
“There’s a production facility for the sterile flies to stop this nasty little bug in Panama, so we’re in good shape to do it and things have moved forward, but there’s been some snags now with planes not being allowed to land by the Mexican government and some extra fees and customs,” Wehrbein explains.
He met with senior officials at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C., last week to press for further action.
“It’s simply a bureaucratic thing that I would think all they have to do is the right person sign the right paper that says you can land these planes,” Wehrbein says.
Mexico’s President said Monday they are strengthening efforts to stop the pest.
Reopening the border to Mexican feeder cattle has been a steady process since the pest was detected last November, yet trade has not fully normalized.
"[Trade is] at about half capacity compared with before,” Wehrbein says. “It’s come a long way and the Mexican government has done a really good job on the border and working with our APHIS people.”
In the 1960s, the U.S. spent million of dollars to eradicate New World Screwworm, but the pest is destructive and could cost producers millions of dollars a year if it reaches the U.S.
