Mexico Reopens U.S. Beef Imports

Last week, Mexico said it would re-open its borders to most of the U.S. beef imports that were banned following the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S. last December.

The Mexican agriculture ministry said in a statement that it would allow the entry of de-boned beef from animals under 30 months of age and veal from cattle nine months of age and younger at the time of slaughter.

That covers the majority of the U.S. beef that Mexico had prohibited. However, some parts of the ban will remain in place. "It’s guaranteed that meat which has been detained on the border since the ban, as well as high-risk products and live animals, will not be entering the country," the agriculture ministry said.

USDA Secretary Ann Veneman said she was "very pleased" by Mexico's decision and hoped dozens of other countries which have banned U.S. beef – such as Japan and South Korea – would follow suit.

Editors note: Richard Brock, The Corn and Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at www.brockreport.com.