The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is announcing the resumption of cattle and bison imports from Mexico.
Those imports will resume in the next several days. To protect U.S. livestock and other animals, APHIS halted shipments of bison and cattle from Mexico in November after positive detection of New World screwworm in southern Mexico.
After extensive discussions between representatives of the U.S. and Mexico, APHIS and Mexico agreed to and implemented a comprehensive pre-clearance inspection and treatment protocol to ensure safe movement and mitigate the screwworm threat.
Animals will be inspected and treated for screwworm by trained veterinarians before entering pre-export inspection pens, where they will again undergo inspection by Mexican officials before finally heading to final inspection by APHIS.
Cattle and bison approved for importation into the United States will also be dipped in a solution to ensure they are insect- and tick-free.
