February 2, 2009

 

Mexico has backed away from its threat to ban all imports of meat in certain large boxes known as "combos," a threat Mexico had made due to the difficulty of inspecting them at the border.

 

Instead, Mexico will implement a partial ban that only covers combos containing frozen meat on January 30, a compromise that is acceptable to US meat exporters because most combos they ship to Mexico contain only fresh, chilled, mechanically deboned or ground meat, sources said.

 

The ban will therefore have little effect on trade, although US exporters have on occasion frozen the meat in combo shipments in order to preserve it when there is a delay at the Mexican border, an option that would no longer be available, these sources said.

 

US exporters had charged that a full ban of all combos would have impeded commerce.

 

Mexico originally threatened to ban meat combo imports because inspectors argued it was difficult and time-consuming to physically inspect the meat found in the middle or bottom of the larger boxes.

 

US exporters like to export meat in the larger boxes because it reduces packaging costs.

 

As the inspection problem remains for fresh meat imports in combos, Mexico is seeking to change its inspection practices for these imports, which US exporters now fear causing border delays unless Mexico waits to learn "best practices" from the US and Canada.

 

One US meat exporter said that Mexico may need to increase its staffing levels at ports of entry in order to tighten inspection procedures without creating delays.

 

From February 2 to February 6, officials from the three countries will visit two US ports of entry on the Canadian border, and two Canadian ports of entry on the border, to observe inspection of combo bins of fresh or chilled meat, according to a spokesperson with USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

 

FAS will be represented at the visits, along with USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, a Canadian attaché and seven Mexican officials, the spokesperson said.

 

These Mexican officials will include two from Mexico's meat safety agency, the Sanitary, Inoculation, and Agricultural Quality National Service within the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fish, and Food.

 

Also on the delegation will be two inspection services officials and an international affairs official, according to the spokesperson.