Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 1/15/18


The USDA on Friday finalized a rule that will allow all states in Mexico to export pork to the United States.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it has determined that Mexico is free of Classical Swine Fever (CSF), and that the risk of CSF from Mexican pork is negligible.

The National Pork Producers Council said it supports the move.

In late 2007, according to NPPC, Mexico asked for market access to the United States for pork from the eight states in its central region, but later amended that request to include all Mexican states. APHIS then determined Mexico’s control program for CSF was not sufficient to classify the country as negligible risk for the disease.

But given the importance of the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship, USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service funded improvements to Mexico’s control program. A subsequent review by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) determined that Mexico was free of CSF.

Mexico is the No. 2 export market for the U.S. pork industry, which through November last year shipped $1.4 billion of pork to that country.

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