Mexico Doubles Egg Imports from US
MEXICO - As a result of recent bird flu outbreaks, Mexico imported twice as many eggs as usual in the first six months of this year. US exporters to Mexico will be required to have new certificates from 28 September.
13 September 2013
3 minute read
By: A new report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service clarifies that USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is responsible for certifying shell egg as well as egg food product shipments to Mexico while the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) certifies items like fertile/hatching eggs and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for certifying liquid, frozen, or dried processed egg products.
This report focuses on recent changes applicable to shell egg and egg food products exported to Mexico announced by APHIS and AMS.
On 3 April 2013, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a program to facilitate the export of further processed eggs and egg products. The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will verify a wide range of products containing eggs, including omelets, frozen egg patties, crepes, hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and food containing egg extracts. The export certifications to Mexico performed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for foods containing eggs will be discontinued.
Exporters who are interested in shipping egg products to Mexico need to contact AMS to register for the new program and schedule an audit as soon as possible.
Mexico will be requiring the new AMS certificates beginning on 28 September 2013.
Market statistics
Total egg and egg products imports into Mexico for the first six months of 2013 have eclipsed calendar year levels from 2012 and are expected to continue growing as per-capita consumption and food industry use of table eggs and processed egg products remain high and as the Mexican poultry industry looks to re-establish its national flock with US fertile/hatching eggs.
As indicated in FAS/Mexico's most recent poultry annual GAIN report, there is a strong demand in Mexico for eggs and egg food products as current supplies have been disrupted by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks. As a result, Mexican prices have increased over traditional levels and made new market opportunities for US table eggs and processed egg product suppliers.
Further Reading
You can view the full report by clicking here.
To visit our Bird Flu page, click here.
