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USDA Secy: Beef Exports To Mexico 91% Resumed After BSE
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--The U.S. has resumed about 91% of the beef exports that existed prior to the December 2003 discovery of mad-cow disease in the U.S., Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday.
Johanns, speaking to reporters during a visit in Mexico City, also said the U.S. is doing "everything (it) can" in order to recover the remaining 9% of its original Mexican beef market and praised Mexico for its positive cooperation over the issue.
"We have about 91% of that market reclaimed - the remaining piece is mostly live cattle," he said.
Mexico banned U.S. beef and cattle imports in December 2003 after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or `mad cow' disease, was discovered in the U.S. state of Washington that same month.
A partial lifting of the ban was made in March 2004 and has gradually been increased since but Mexico has maintained that a continued ban on certain high-risk cow parts such as heads, brains, eyes and spines, remain in effect.
"Mexico was really one of the first countries to reopen their borders to U.S. beef after we found that one cow in Washington state," said Johanns, adding that the U.S. "will be going to do everything we can" to restore the balance.
But, expressing "his appreciation" to the Mexican government for their cooperation, he acknowledged that Mexico had to go through a process of its own before a full recovery of the U.S. market share in Mexico can happen.
Following bans from Japan and Korea on U.S. beef, Mexico has become the biggest import market for U.S. beef and cattle producers.
Johanns also said the agriculture ministers from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. are working together to create a set of "harmonized standards" on how to deal with BSE among the three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"We believe that approach makes a lot of sense. Those things don't happen overnight ... but my hope is that these discussions for a more harmonized approach will continue.
"We all believe in one thing: We want to be able to produce a very high quality prooduct that is safe for the consumer," he said, adding that the three ministers all agree that such standards should be based on "good science".
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--The U.S. has resumed about 91% of the beef exports that existed prior to the December 2003 discovery of mad-cow disease in the U.S., Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday.
Johanns, speaking to reporters during a visit in Mexico City, also said the U.S. is doing "everything (it) can" in order to recover the remaining 9% of its original Mexican beef market and praised Mexico for its positive cooperation over the issue.
"We have about 91% of that market reclaimed - the remaining piece is mostly live cattle," he said.
Mexico banned U.S. beef and cattle imports in December 2003 after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or `mad cow' disease, was discovered in the U.S. state of Washington that same month.
A partial lifting of the ban was made in March 2004 and has gradually been increased since but Mexico has maintained that a continued ban on certain high-risk cow parts such as heads, brains, eyes and spines, remain in effect.
"Mexico was really one of the first countries to reopen their borders to U.S. beef after we found that one cow in Washington state," said Johanns, adding that the U.S. "will be going to do everything we can" to restore the balance.
But, expressing "his appreciation" to the Mexican government for their cooperation, he acknowledged that Mexico had to go through a process of its own before a full recovery of the U.S. market share in Mexico can happen.
Following bans from Japan and Korea on U.S. beef, Mexico has become the biggest import market for U.S. beef and cattle producers.
Johanns also said the agriculture ministers from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. are working together to create a set of "harmonized standards" on how to deal with BSE among the three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"We believe that approach makes a lot of sense. Those things don't happen overnight ... but my hope is that these discussions for a more harmonized approach will continue.
"We all believe in one thing: We want to be able to produce a very high quality prooduct that is safe for the consumer," he said, adding that the three ministers all agree that such standards should be based on "good science".
