Mexican ranchers warned on Sunday that measures taken by the Mexican government following the declaration of a national emergency due to the screw-worm plague have generated an 'unprecedented overregulation' that is critically affecting the meat supply chain in Mexico, with impacts on costs, logistics, animal welfare, and consumer prices.
In a statement, the Mexican Association of Beef Feeders (AMEG) acknowledged the severity of the plague and reiterated its commitment to animal health. However, the association denounced that the multiplication of federal and state checkpoints, as well as new requirements derived from the emergency, have produced a scenario of overcontrol that is paralyzing the usual flow of cattle.
According to AMEG, cattle being transported from southern states to northern fattening centers are currently facing substantial increases in transit times, which have risen from 20 to 32 hours, in addition to waits of over 18 hours at inspection points to comply with the periods after the mandatory application of antiparasitics. This is in addition to additional state checkpoints that double federal inspections.
The association assured that these delays and repeated procedures cause multiple loading and unloading maneuvers, which affects animal welfare and increases the risk of injuries that can become foci of infestation. Furthermore, this exposes the cattle to prolonged periods without water, food, or shade, contradicting federal animal welfare policies. The delays have also led to an increase in mortality during transport.
'Far from contributing to stopping the plague, these measures could even generate more favorable conditions for transmission,' the association warned. 'The screw-worm is transmitted by flies and affects any warm-blooded animal, not by the regulated movement of healthy cattle,' it stated.
AMEG assured that the overregulation is causing regional shortages, logistical bottlenecks, and a loss of competitiveness, with effects that are already reflected in operational costs and the final price of meat for Mexican families. The sector also faces a 'double challenge': internal restrictions that hinder the essential movement for supply, and a partial suspension of exports to the United States, which has generated million-dollar losses.
To this is added the concern that the federal 2026 budget for health and safety 'presents a cut' despite the declared emergency.
AMEG proposed a series of measures to address the emergency without affecting the productive flow or the consumer. These include accelerating and expanding the sterile fly program with guaranteed financing; strengthening health surveillance with uniform technical criteria; replacing overregulation with a mobility protocol based on traceability and best practices; harmonizing federal and state regulations by eliminating duplicities; and installing a permanent working table between authorities, states, and producers.
On December 3, the Government of Mexico announced that it had expanded the measures planned to contain the screw-worm plague, which mainly affects cattle but also domestic, wild species, and humans.
Imports of cattle from Mexico play an important role in the U.S., averaging more than one million heads annually for decades, representing approximately 60% of live cattle imports and around 3% of the national herd.
