Mexico to tighten cattle flows from south, rules out shutting border over screwworm

Mexico will tighten the flow of cattle from the south of the country to limit the potential spread of the screwworm, the nation's agriculture minister said on Tuesday.

The screwworm, which can kill cattle or other hosts within weeks, has recently been detected in the south of Mexico and has caused the U.S. to suspend imports of cattle, horses and bison from its neighbor.

Mexican Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue, speaking at a regular press conference alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum, ruled out closing Mexico's southern border to cattle from Central America, but acknowledged it will take a long time to eradicate the pest.

"We are going to be restricting cattle movement from the south of the country much more tightly," Berdegue said, adding that "closing the border is a complex issue that needs to be carefully analyzed, because it also impacts the national meat supply."

The clampdown from Mexico is in response to the U.S. suspension of cattle imports, though Berdegue said on Tuesday that Mexico was complying "100%" with the U.S.' demands.

The two countries have put out conflicting information on how long the suspension will last, with Mexico claiming it agreed on a 15-day suspension with U.S. authorities, and the U.S. calling for it to be in place on a "month-by-month" basis.

The suspension threatens to increase U.S. beef prices by further tightening already-limited supply, while hurting ranchers in Mexico. Sheinbaum said on Monday she hoped the measure had a limited economic impact, given that she only expected it to last 15 days.

TECHNICAL MEASURES

Since June, Mexico's agriculture ministry has spent more than 167 million pesos ($8.60 million) to combat the pest, it said in a Monday statement.

That includes inspecting cattle shipments and ranches in states along Mexico's southern border, the ministry said, as well as a program to release sterilized screwworm flies, which reduce the mating population of the wild flies.