The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development rejected the entry into the national territory of 1,449 commercial shipments during 2020, which prevented the entry of 117 pests of quarantine importance that pose a risk to food production in Mexico.
To carry out these actions, the officials of the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) inspected 43 million 393 thousand 893 tons of regulated agricultural, aquaculture and fishing products, which represents four percent more than in 2019.
These measures are part of the work carried out by Agriculture in all ports, airports and borders in order to reduce the risk of exotic pests and diseases entering the national territory, that is, they do not exist in Mexico.
Of the rejections, 69 percent corresponded to merchandise of animal origin, 25 of vegetable origin and 6 percent to aquaculture merchandise. Of the livestock products, 58 percent were live horses, seven percent balanced feed, five percent poultry, three percent live cattle, and three percent pigs.
Regarding vegetable merchandise, 18 percent were fresh grapes, 12 percent seeds for sowing, eight percent rice, eight percent apples, five percent seedlings, and five percent garlic.
Of the rejected aquaculture products, 37 percent were fish fillets, 36 percent shrimp, six percent fish cuts, and six percent frozen salmon.
The technical staff of Senasica sent samples of the food to official and approved laboratories, in which the presence of 117 pests of quarantine importance was verified, so they were destroyed, conditioned or returned to the country of origin, in order to preserve the phyto and zoosanitary status of Mexico, for the benefit of the country's primary sector.
One of the most important intercepted pests was the Khapra beetle , considered in world agriculture as one of the most devastating for grains and seeds.
After the detection, the officers of the Agricultural Health Inspection Office (OISA) of the port of Veracruz rejected four shipments containing 154.8 tons of cinnamon, robusta coffee, methionine and rice from Sri Lanka, Brazil, China and Uruguay, respectively. Also, in Manzanillo, Colima, the inspectors returned to their place of origin 27.2 tons of lysine sulfate, from China.
It should be noted that as a complementary measure to inspection actions in ports, airports and borders, Senasica operates 555 traps in strategic places in the country, such as entry points and grain and seed collection centers.
The quarantine pests with the most detections were: tomato rough virus (ToBRFV) and tomato bush dwarf virus; weeds such as P olygonum convolvulus, Galium spurium, and Thlaspi arvense; the fungus Microdochium Albescens , and the butterfly plusia ( Autographa gamma).
The increase in detections in chili seeds and tomato seeds is due to the regulation of ToBRFV, as a quarantine pest and the specific diagnosis that is required in seeds for sowing, as part of the import requirement. ■
A trailing cold front in connection with a low pressure system currently moving east across the Great Lakes toward New England will bring a chance of rain into the eastern U.S. on this first day of November following an exceptionally dry October for this part of the country.