MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on May 12 described as "unfair" the decision by the Trump administration to suspend imports of Mexican beef cattle for 15 days due to the detection of screwworm in shipments.
"We do not agree with this measure," she said. "The Mexican government has been working on all fronts from the very first moment we were alerted to the screwworm."
The U.S. restricted Mexican cattle shipments in late November following the detection of the pest but lifted the ban in February after protocols were put in place to evaluate the animals prior to entry into the country. But there has been an "unacceptable northward advancement" of the screwworm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement May 10.
As the threat posed by the New World screwworm rises, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association joined affiliate state associations in urging Congress to pass the STOP Screwworms Act to fund the opening of a new sterile fly facility in the United States. Under the sterile insect technique, millions of sterile flies are released into the environment where they breed with wild flies, ultimately creating no new offspring.
The United States spent millions of dollars to successfully eradicate screwworms from North America back in the 1960s using this method, but once the threat was mitigated, most facilities shut down.
"To protect American agriculture, NCBA strongly supports the creation of a new sterile fly facility within the United States," NCBA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane said in a news release. "We also appreciate the hard work of NCBA state affiliates in ensuring that members of Congress closest to the southern border understand the severity of this threat."