The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is continuing its phased reopening of southern border ports for livestock imports from Mexico, supported by enhanced safeguards against New World screwworm and ongoing evaluations of animal health conditions, USDA said. On October 26 the agency will reopen the Columbus, New Mexico port of entry to cattle imports, the third crossing reopened under the framework after Douglas, Arizona on August 24 and Santa Teresa, New Mexico on September 24. If conditions continue to support safe trade and the required inspection arrangements and infrastructure are in place, Nogales, Arizona is scheduled to reopen to cattle imports on November 30.
Equine imports resume the same day. On October 26 APHIS will resume the importation of equines from Mexico by land through Santa Teresa. Under the updated protocols, horses and other equines undergo a rigorous inspection and treatment process before export, followed by a seven day quarantine period before release into the United States, with quarantine completed at a USDA approved facility on the United States side of the border; quarantine facilities on the Mexican side of that port remain closed. USDA said starting at Santa Teresa lets it evaluate the safeguards before expanding to further ports.
The volumes so far are modest against the closure that preceded them. Through October 16, some 39,600 head had crossed since the ports reopened to cattle trade, about 28,800 head through Douglas and 10,800 through Santa Teresa, Drovers reported, with early projections expecting Columbus trade to start at roughly 750 head per day under strict phased quotas. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said protecting American livestock remains the priority. The reopening went ahead after confirmation last week of two new screwworm cases in southwestern New Mexico, in a calf and a horse in Grant County, which underlines why the quotas stay phased.