March 10, 2004

Mexico Partially Lifts Ban On US Poultry Products

Mexico has partially lifted a ban on poultry products from the United States following the outbreak of bird flu in Texas, Mexico's Agriculture Department reported Tuesday.
 
Starting Monday, Mexico allowed imports from the U.S. of mechanically deboned thigh meat of turkey and chicken and turkey paste, according to the Agriculture Department and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
 
The Agriculture Department said a ban continues on other chicken and turkey parts, with or without bones.
 
A ban continues on all poultry products from states where avian flu has been detected, including Texas, Maine, Virginia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, Delaware, North Carolina, New Jersey and Maryland.
 
On February 24, the Agriculture Department announced a ban on imports of live birds, eggs and poultry products from throughout the U.S. - with the exception of some cooked products.
 
The U.S. exported about $141 million in turkey and $104 million in chicken to Mexico last year, said Toby Moore, spokesman for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council, a trade group based in Stone Mountain, Ga.
 
But Moore couldn't say how much of that commerce would be restored by the newly allowed exports.
 
Mexican companies process some of the U.S. poultry exports into sausage and cold cuts for Mexico's domestic market, Moore said.
 
"The Mexican meat processors are screaming because they are completely out of raw material," he said.
 
The avian viruses discovered in the U.S. aren't a threat to humans.