Mexico increased from 300,000 to 350,000 tons a quota for tariff-free chicken imports in 2019 with the objective of avoiding the shortage of that basic product.
Mexico increased from 300,000 to 350,000 tons a quota for tariff-free chicken imports in 2019 with the objective of avoiding the shortage of that basic product.
“It was concluded that the amount established for the import has been fully exercised, so, in order to avoid a shortage of this product, it is convenient to keep open the external supply options and, consequently, expand the amount of quota to import fresh, refrigerated and frozen chicken meat, as a measure that complements the national production, “said the Ministry of Economy in an agreement published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF).
In 2018, the different classifications of chicken covered by this quota, which has been granted since 2013, added imports for 592,174 million dollars.
The quotas facilitate imports of products from nations with which Mexico has no bilateral or regional trade agreements in which these goods have been liberalized. So far, the biggest beneficiary has been Brazil, with sales to the Mexican market for 170 million dollars in 2018.
Initially, the Mexican sanitary emergency occurred in the west of the country in 2012, in the area known as Los Altos, Jalisco, where the H7N3 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus was presented (without impacts on human health, although aggressive for birds of corral), in three farms of birds of commercial posture.
As a result, the health contingency affected the growth of domestic chicken production and, in May 2013, the Ministry of Economy opened an annual import quota for chicken meat by 300,000 tons, to address the effects of the crisis.
According to the Reports of the National Zoosanitary Situation 2019 of the National Service of Health, Safety and Agri-Food Quality (Senasica), avian influenza of low prevalence exists in 21 States of the Mexican Republic, including Guanajuato and Jalisco.
Additionally, on April 2, 2019, said authority notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) a health alert for the presence of a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (IAAP-H7N3) outbreak in Acolman, State of Mexico, in a backyard property.
In addition, derived from the recent outbreaks of Newcastle, the importation into Mexico of poultry merchandise is prohibited when they come from the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura, in California and the County of Utah in Utah, of the United States; outbreaks that are occurring in Mexico, and which have been notified to the World Organization of Animal Health since February 2019.
Source: el economista
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