US ban on Mexico's pork imports finally lifted
According to the National Pork Producers Council(NPPC), USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) implemented a science-based risk assessment that determined Mexico is free of Classical Swine Fever (CSF), a highly contagious viral disease in pigs, which was eradicated from the United States in the late 1970s. In 2016, APHIS concluded that the risk of CSF from pork imports from Mexico is negligible.
“The U.S. pork industry is a strong supporter of free trade and of using epidemiological science and risk analyses to determine if the trade can be safely conducted between countries,” said NPPC President Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Ill. “Mexico in 2017 was our No. 2 export market, so maintaining our good relationship with that country by ensuring fair and reciprocal trade is paramount for our producers.”
In 2007, after Mexico requested market acces to the United States for its pork exports, APHIS , according to NPPC, "conducted multiple reviews and determined Mexico’s control program for CSF was not sufficient to classify the country as negligible risk for the disease."
Still, APHIS recently announced that at the request of Mexico’s government, the institution completed a thorough review, which included updating its initial risk assessment in 2016 following a 2015 site visit. APHIS determined during the review that the risk of introducing the disease back in the US was very low.
Mexico is the second largest market for the US pork exports and in November 2017 the exports reached $1.4 billion worth of pork.
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