Mexico agrees to lift poultry ban on Nine States
US - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced that Mexico has agreed to lift its ban on poultry, table and hatching eggs and live birds from nine states that had previously had low pathogencity avian influenza (LPAI).
14 October 2005
2 minute read
Under the agreement negotiated with officials from Mexico's Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, the states of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas (with the exception of 11 counties) will now be able to export their products to Mexico.
The 11 Texas counties of Gonzalez, Guadalupe, Galdwell, Bastrop, Fayette, La Vaca, De Witt, Karnes, Wilson, Comal and Hays are not covered by the agreement due a 2004 outbreak of high pathogencity avian influenza in Gonzalez County.
The United States has agreed to provide Mexico detailed information on its influenza surveillance program and permit them to observe surveillance activities first hand. Additionally, APHIS and SENASICA, its Mexican counterpart, have agreed to hold a workshop in Mexico City to explain the U.S. surveillance program to the Mexican poultry industry.
The trade restrictions on fresh poultry, live birds and other poultry products began after LPAI was discovered in several states in 2002-2003. The Mexican market for U.S. poultry and poultry products was more than $360 million in 2004.
Source: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - 12th October 2005
