USDA mission to assess Mexico cattle import ban
Screwworm controls may lead to lifted suspension soon
28 May 2025
1 minute read
By: A mission representing the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will travel to Mexico in the coming days, Reuters reported, citing Mexico's agriculture ministry on Tuesday, and could then lift its suspension of Mexican cattle imports.
The US had suspended the imports on an outbreak of the New World screwworm, an insect which burrows into livestock and can kill them.
Mexico has rolled out measures meant to combat the spread of the pest, the ministry said in a statement, adding US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins had expressed her satisfaction with them in a video call with her Mexican counterpart on Tuesday.
The US will also provide $21 million to renovate a plant in southern Mexico to boost production of sterile screwworm flies, the USDA said, which will reduce the mating population of the wild flies.
The USDA cautioned that the current import restrictions remain in place and that it will re-evaluate them every 30 days.
