Mexico has suspended imports from the US of breeding pigs, semen, viscera and pork offal products after US authorities detected pseudorabies virus antibodies in some swine, the head of Mexican pork producers' group Opormex told Reuters on Thursday.
Mexico is the largest export market for US pork. The suspension affects about 10% of Mexico's total pork-product imports from the US but does not include pork meat because it does not pose a transmission risk, Opormex's Ivan Espinosa said in an interview.
Mexico's National Service for Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) implemented the measure on May 2, removing sanitary import requirements for those products from all US states from its import platform as a precaution, Espinosa said.
The US Department of Agriculture reported on April 30 that routine testing detected pseudorabies virus antibodies in five boars at a commercial facility in Iowa, which came from an outdoor facility in Texas. It was the first known US case of pseudorabies, a contagious disease, in commercial swine since 2004.
USDA said swine in Iowa, the biggest US hog-producing state, and Texas would be culled. It warned of "limited, short-term impacts on exports." USDA said the cases do not pose a risk to consumer health or affect the safety of the commercial pork supply.
About half of the pork consumed in Mexico is imported, and roughly 80% of those imports come from the US, Espinosa said. He added that the suspension will remain in place until an epidemiological analysis determines which US regions are affected and which can safely resume trade. If the suspension is prolonged, Mexico can turn to other suppliers and rely on domestic production to meet demand, Espinosa said. He added that there is no clinical outbreak of the disease.
Most US pork exports to Mexico are muscle cuts, such as bone-in hams. However, it is important to restore market access for offal products that Mexico is restricting, the US Meat Export Federation said.
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