Mexico | Seven New Mexican Inspection Points Ready For Use | As of October 1...

Mexico

Seven New Mexican Inspection Points Ready For Use

As of October 10, there are a total of seven verification inspection points (VIPS) on the Mexican side of the border that have been approved by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) and have SAGARPA inspectors already assigned to work. According to SAGARPA, effective 8:00 a.m. today (October 11), these will be the only VIPs along the Mexican-U.S. border with authorized inspectors. For the time being, dairy products and hides and skins will continue to be inspected on the U.S. side of the border (by the same SAGARPA inspectors who currently provide fruit and vegetable inspection).

In addition to these seven, there are 28 Tipo Inspection Federal (TIF) meat processing plants located throughout the country, but these can only provide inspection services to shipments which intended for further processing at the particular site.

There are also freight forwarders/Customs brokers with facilities on the U.S. side of the border which have filed amparos (injunctions) to keep on operating on the U.S. side of the border once the law goes into effect tomorrow. The Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) told USMEF that the following amparos have been filed:

• San Diego:  three amparos filed, if granted, an additional 33 doors
• Calexico:  one amparo filed; if granted, an additional 10 doors
• Nogales:  one amparo filed; if granted, an additional 10 doors
• El Paso:  two amparos filed; if granted, an additional 26-28 doors
• Laredo: one amparo filed and granted, providing an additional 10 doors

SAGARPA will have to comply and provide SAGARPA inspectors to any facility that is granted an amparo. SAGARPA told the ATO that if a company received an amparo on Friday (October 11) a SAGARPA inspector would be on the premises Monday (October 14). 

Moving along the border from the West Coast to East Coast, the location and total number of doors available to receive trucks at each border crossing point are as follows, according to the ATO:

Tijuana/San Diego: 2 VIPs, both outside Mexican  Customs patio, 14 doors total

            Harvest Meat, S.A. de C.V.

            Union Sanitaria de Productos Alimenticios, S.A. de C.V. (USPASA)

Mexicali/Calexico: No VIPs

SAGARPA told the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) that in the absence of VIPs, imports would be brought into the Mexican Customs patio and inspected there.  The ATO asked how this could be done since the Customs patios are not designed to receive perishable product. SAGARPA said that the local chambers of commerce were going to help Mexican Customs accommodate the perishable product. This is not a good solution since the Mexican Customs warehouses are not outfitted to handle perishable products.  On the contrary, it is highly possible that perishable food products inspected in the Mexican Customs patio could be inspected alongside or at the same dock that highly toxic products such as fertilizers, machine fuels, etc. had been inspected.

San Luis Rio Colorado/Calexico: 1 VIP, outside Mexican Customs patio/6 doors

            SANA Internacional — This is a TIF plant located about ten minutes from Mexicali.

Nogales/Nogales:  No VIPS

SAGARPA told the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) that in the absence of VIPs, imports would be brought into the Mexican Customs patio and inspected there.  The ATO asked how this could be done since the Customs patios are not designed to receive perishable product. SAGARPA said that the local chambers of commerce were going to help Mexican Customs accommodate the perishable product.

Ciudad Juarez/El Paso: 1 VIP, outside Mexican Customs patio, 8 doors

            Empacadora Superior, S.A. de C.V.

Colombia/Laredo: 2 VIPs, both inside Mexican Customs patio, 50 doors, total

            S.R. Forwarding, Inc.

            DICEX Integracions, S.A. de C.V.

Reynosa/McAllen: 1 VIP, outside Mexican Customs patio, 11 doors

Cesar G. Abanto Medina

Matamoros/Brownsville:  No VIPS

The ATO expects some disruption/backups in trade at certain crossing points particularly Mexicali and Nogales), but no huge bottlenecks anywhere along the border for several reasons:

1.     The most important crossing point (volume/value) for meat and poultry is Colombia-Nuevo Laredo/Laredo, which has 50 doors operational in Mexico and at least 10 doors operational in Laredo.  The ATO expects another big freight forwarder/Customs brokers with 23 doors to be open for business early next week, which will further diminish any blockages at this crossing point.

2.     Although the number of doors available at the VIPS in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez is not optimal, the ATO believes they are adequate to keep trade moving, albeit more slowly.

3.     A lot of major U.S. companies, in anticipation of disruptions, have either frontloaded their shipments to enter Mexico prior to the implementation of the law or are holding off on big shipments until Monday, October 14, to see the situation on the amparo and what VIPs are really open for business.

4.     The amparo that have been requested will go a long way in easing backups if they are granted, particularly in the cases of Calexico/ Mexicali and Nogales/Nogales.

China

Chinese Authorities Insisting On
Bilingual Labels From November 1

As we reported in September, the Chinese authorities are now requiring that labels on boxes must be in Chinese as well as English. This requirement comes into effect on November 1. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is negotiating with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine’s (AQSIQ) for a delay in enforcement of the new regulation, since it seems impossible for U.S. companies to comply in time, but since there is no guarantee that FAS will succeed in the negotiation, it is imperative that exporting companies comply.

The AQSIQ will make a final decision on the labels after a five-month test period. USMEF suggests that labels be printed in English and Chinese in the following form:

English and Chinese Labels (Word Doc.)

In regard to the storage temperature, exporters must choose either "Keep refrigerated" or "Keep frozen." The product name must also be in Chinese. Exporters should consult their importers or refer to USMEF’s International Meat Manual, which is available online at USMEF’s Web site (/TradeLibrary/InternationalMeatManual.asp).

The International Meat Manual includes the most commonly produced beef and pork cuts in the Chinese language.

Click for USMEF Annual Board of Directors Meeting Information, Registration Form and Thank You to Sponsors; November 6-8, 2002 - Long Beach, California