July 31, 2007

Mexican swine raisers insist tariff on US pork imports

Pork producers in Mexico have requested the government of the establishment of "emergency tariff" for pork imports coming from the United States due to reported losses by local farmers, reports the US Department of Agriculture in its "Mexico Agricultural Situation and Weekly Highlights".

The USDA said that Enrique Dominguez, director of the Mexican Pork Growers Confederation said lamented that the industry already lost US$140,000 last year and lost fifty percent of the Mexican market due to the influx of US pork imports. Dominguez said the confederation has already requested tariff protection under the Agricultural Chapter of the World Trade Organization before the industry gets slumped further.