U.S. not ready to lift Mexican cattle ban over screwworm, Agriculture Secretary Rollins says

Mexico | Reuters — The U.S. is not yet ready to reopen its border to Mexican cattle amid an outbreak of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins mentioned, however she is happy with Mexico’s efforts to include the pest.

Rollins, in Mexico Metropolis for conferences with officers together with President Claudia Sheinbaum, informed Reuters in an unique interview on Monday that President Donald Trump was “very centered” on reopening the border, which has been largely closed to Mexican livestock since Might.

“We’re nonetheless not on the level the place I’m snug opening the ports, however I believe day by day that goes by we get a little bit bit nearer,” Rollins mentioned.

“I need to have each confidence that we’ve overturned each stone, that we perceive each nuance, that we’re deploying each device within the toolkit,” she added.

Rollins, who declined to provide a timeframe for reopening the border, mentioned she would converse to high U.S. officers concerning the difficulty on Wednesday and would have extra conversations about screwworm with Trump.

Mexico’s agriculture ministry didn’t reply to Reuters’ request for remark.

Mexico taking it ‘very severely’

Mexico has been working to contain the outbreak, which has unfold northward from Central America, rattling the livestock and beef industries of each the U.S. and Mexico. Though U.S. officers say the pest has not but breached the U.S. border, it threatens $1.8 billion in harm to Texas’ financial system alone, in accordance with a U.S. Division of Agriculture estimate.

In September, Rollins criticized Mexico for failing to sufficiently implement measures to cease the screwworm’s unfold, highlighting rising tensions between the 2 nations because the pest continues its advance north.

On Monday, although, after her conferences with Mexican officers, she mentioned the efforts of each nations had been “a very totally different, extra subtle, spectacular operation,” than the place they had been within the spring.

Mexican officers “have taken it very severely,” Rollins mentioned, including that she was “very impressed” with Sheinbaum.

“I consider sincerely, it’s the most collaborative effort, maybe in our lifetime, between the 2 totally different departments of agriculture.”

Parasitic flies

Rollins mentioned there had been 11 instances of screwworm in Mexican states that border the U.S. in recent months, although they had been all contained and handled.

Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds. Their larvae burrow via dwelling flesh, finally killing their host if left untreated.

“The bottom line is conserving the screwworm away from the southern border of America, and it’s gotten actually shut – too shut – so now we simply have to verify we will push it again,” she added.

In Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, some ranchers have blamed the unfold of the outbreak on the federal authorities’s failure to crack down on organized crime teams that visitors in stolen livestock, which permits them to faucet a profitable market and extort cash alongside the way in which.

Unlawful motion a “large difficulty”

Animals could also be smuggled in from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, or different Central American nations, usually bearing counterfeit ear tags and cast paperwork.

Rollins mentioned the unlawful motion of cattle was a “large difficulty” that she needed to dig into extra, whereas noting that Mexico had put in new protections and checkpoints in place to raised management for illicit livestock commerce.

The border closure has added to the already tight cattle provide scenario within the U.S., the place beef costs have risen to data as herd sizes have declined to their lowest in a long time on the identical time shopper demand stays sturdy. About 250,000 head of cattle are ready south of the U.S. border to enter, Rollins mentioned.

The secretary mentioned that rising beef costs, nevertheless, are a “non-factor” in contemplating whether or not to reopen the border.

“I believe that we will by no means compromise the protection of the herd for the associated fee,” Rollins mentioned, including that doing so prematurely might result in larger prices afterward if the screwworm enters the U.S. and devastates the cattle trade.

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