April 27, 2004

Mexico To Keep Partial U.S. Beef Ban
 

Mexico is not convinced that U.S. meat plants have taken sufficient measures to combat mad cow disease. Thus it will maintain its partial ban on U.S. beef imports, the agriculture ministry said today.

Javier Trujillo, the ministry's animal and plant health chief, said Mexican officials who visited U.S. plants in March were unhappy at the methods used for de-boning beef.

"This means some of the meat that used to be sent here continues to be blocked," he told Reuters.

Mexico banned U.S. beef imports in December after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington state. But it eased the ban in March, allowing about 40 percent of the previously outlawed beef to be imported.

Imports of U.S. boned beef, meat for pet food and live cattle will continue to be banned.

"Of the five plants they visited, only one was using a satisfactory method," Trujillo said.

Apparently about 40 meat plants handle the majority of U.S. beef exports to Mexico, which was the world's second-biggest importer of beef from the United States before the ban.

Mexico counts on its northern neighbor for about 90 percent of its beef imports, and brings in around $1 billion in U.S. beef every year.