MEXICO CITY, July 2 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the agreement with the United States to reopen the border to livestock and mentioned the maintenance of the working groups to speed up the process.
“Yesterday, a first agreement was reached with the US Department of Agriculture, and discussions continue to accelerate this opening,” the president stated during her regular press conference.
According to Sheinbaum, the border crossing in Agua Prieta, Sonora state, will open on July 7; followed by others until finally reaching the last one on Sept 15.
She added that authorities continue working on the export point in Nogales, Sonora, under “Their argument (that of the United States) that they want to open first to see how the screwworm situation behaves, but we have insisted that this pest is contained (…) and is particularly prevalent in some areas in the south of the country, having not reached the north,” she emphasized.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of this Latin American nation, the decision regarding the phased reopening was made after a virtual meeting between the head of the ministry, Julio Berdegue, and his counterpart from the neighboring country, Brooke Rollins.
This arose “from the positive evaluation by the US government of Mexico’s strategy for the control and eradication of the cattle screwworm, described as one of the best collaborations in bilateral history,” the statement noted.
Last May, the United States decided to close the border to cattle exports to review the joint strategy against the screwworm, a decision with which the authorities of this Latin American nation expressed their disagreement. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
