U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced April 30, that Mexico has committed to eliminate restrictions on USDA aircraft, and waive customs duties on eradication equipment aiding in the response to the spread of New World Screwworm (NWS).
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Due to this agreement the ports will remain open to livestock imports, however if at any time these terms are not upheld, port closure will be revisited.
This agreement follows Secretary Rollins’ letter to Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Julio Antonio Berdegue Sacristan pushing for a resolution of the restrictions.
“I am happy to share Mexico has continued to partner in emergency efforts to eradicate the New World Screwworm. This pest is a devastating threat to both of our economies, and I am pleased to work together with Mexico in good faith to protect the livelihoods of our ranchers and producers who would have been hurt by this pest,†said Secretary Rollins.
“At USDA we are working every day to keep pests and disease from harming our agricultural industry. I thank our frontline USDA staff and their counterparts in Mexico for their work to ensure the screwworm does not harm our livestock industry.â€
New World Screwworm (NWS) is a deadly parasitic fly that infests warm-blooded animals, causing severe wounds and complications that can lead to death.
In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was notified that New World screwworm was detected in Mexico.
NCBA has been working closely with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to increase surveillance, inspection, and other measures to counter this pest.
At the same time, NCBA has also been working with USDA to expand the use of the sterile insect technique, which requires the continuous release of sterile male screwworm files that breed with wild screwworms and result in no offspring, eradicating the species.
Unfortunately, Mexican authorities have failed to uphold their end of the agreement by disrupting planes carrying these sterile male files, refusing pilots permission to land, and instituting customs duties on flight components, sterile flies, and sterile insect technique equipment. ■