BEEF PLANTS TEMPORARILY CLEARED FOR EXPORT TO MEXICO

Washington D.C. (Dec.13, 1999) - Mexico on Monday temporarily re-listed the eight U.S. beef processing plants that were decertified in late November. The action, which clears the meat packing plants for beef export to Mexico, comes just after the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and other meat organizations sent a letter to

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman urging the government to take increased political action, NCBA said today.

Mexico’s actions disrupted trade flows between the United States and Mexico. Had the delisting continued for an extended period, it could have had serious financial implications for the cattle industry, said Dana Hauck, NCBA International Markets Chair and a cattle producer from Delphos, Kan. Mexico is the second-largest importer of U.S. beef.

The U.S. beef plants and nine poultry plants are cleared for export until Jan. 31. The United States and Mexico will work between now and then to come to a final accord on the issue. Several of the plants that had been delisted are major suppliers of meat and poultry to the Mexican market.

“The cattle industry continues support free trade and improving relations between Mexico and the United States,” Hauck said “However, incidents such as this can erode industry confidence in the free trade system.”

NCBA asked secretary Glickman to take steps toward urging Mexico to recertify the plants for export because Mexico’s actions are highly suspect. This is the first time that a country has summarily delisted all audited plants. Further, Mexico cited sanitary reasons for delisting the U.S. plants, however, its actions closely followed the decertification of three Mexican plants. Mexican meat inspection officials delisted their plants voluntarily during a routine inspection with U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Services officials.

“NCBA will continue to ensure that technical trade decisions are based on scientific evidence, not political motivations,” Hauck said. “If there are any deficiencies in plant inspection procedures, NCBA urges them to be resolved as U.S. cattle producers will not compromise on food safety. But this situation appears as though valuable trade is being held hostage to unrelated political concerns.”

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Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry. NCBA is producer-directed but consumer-focused, with offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C.