Mexico | USMEF, USDA Meet With SAGARPA On Inspection Points | USMEF-Mexico an...
Mexico
USMEF, USDA Meet With SAGARPA On Inspection Points
USMEF-Mexico and USDA staff had a meeting yesterday with officials of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) to address U.S. industry concerns on the impending implementation of the Mexican Animal Health Law.
The Secretariat has not yet published the Animal Health Law in the Mexican Government’s Daily Register. If the latest version of the law is published before the June 12, 2002 deadline, investors will have up to 120 days to build verification points on the Mexican side of the border. After 120 days, all import verification points on the U.S. side of the border will no longer be authorized to inspect meat, poultry or animal by-products for import into Mexico. There are currently 18 authorized import verification points operating in the United States at nine different points of entry along the border, but there is only one authorized import verification point on the Mexican side of the border. Should the law not be published by June 12, SAGARPA has indicated that the verification points on the U.S. side will be allowed to continue operating and SAGARPA also said that shipments to Mexico will not be held awaiting laboratory test results.