Mexican border may open soonMexican border may open soon
Live cattle imports from Mexico’s state of Chihuahua could resume as early as next week. Imports from other states are on deck to open soon.
January 23, 2025

“It’s very important to understand that no one is rushing this agreement or taking any unnecessary chances as we work to open the border.” – Daniel Manzaneras.
The U.S./ Mexico border may reopen to live cattle trade very soon, according to Daniel Manzaneras, director the Santa Teresa International Export/Import Lifestock Crossing.
Manzaneras says a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Union Ganadera Regional de Chihuahua and USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is presently being circulated for final approval by animal health officials on both sides of the border. Adopting it would pave the way for an imminent resumption of live cattle imports to the U.S. from Chihuahua.
The Union Ganadera is a 7,500-member association of livestock producers in the state of Chihuahua. It’s sanctioned by both the state and Mexican federal government to conduct activities on behalf of its members.
The U.S./Mexico border was closed to all movement of northbound cattle on November 22, 2024. Mexico’s Chief Veterinary Officer had a day earlier confirmed the detection of New World Screwworm (NWS) (Cochliomyia hominivorax) in Chiapas, a southern Mexican state that borders Guatemala.
The staging pens and inspection facilities at the Santa Teresa border crossing have since been empty. The crossing is the largest livestock entry point in the U.S. Nearly a half-million feeder steers and heifers crossed the border at Santa Teresa last year. A total of about 1.2 million head cross into the U.S. from Mexico annually through 16 ports of entry.
The MOU contains a long, detailed list of directives Chihuahuan animal health officials must follow covering sanitation, security, inspection personnel, and cattle handling procedures as they stage cattle prior to normal inspection at Santa Teresa crossing.
The APHIS veterinarian in charge of the southern border ports will supervise activities at a facility located just south of the border in Chihuahua. Veterinarians will conduct on-site inspections, records review and supervise laboratory procedures as well as the isolation and handling of cattle.
Manzaneras is confident Mexican veterinary inspectors will meet the APHIS’s requirements before releasing cattle from the holding pens located in near Jaurez in San Jeronimo, Chihuahua.
“It’s very important to understand that no one is rushing this agreement or taking any unnecessary chances as we work to open the border,” said Manzaneras. “This is serious business and we’re taking every precaution to protect the health of the cattle that come into the U.S.”
Edward Avalos, Las Cruces, N.M. is former USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs serving with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during the Obama years. He says the MOU being considered only covers cattle coming from Chihuahua.
Avalos supports the terms of the MOU. As far as the other Mexican states bordering the U.S., he said similar but separate MOUs with APHIS will likely be presented and approved very soon.
To the west, Sonora’s agriculture secretary said APHIS has finished its inspection of the cattle border crossing facilities between Arizona and Mexico. Mexican animal health authorities are now making changes at the Agua Prieta and Nogales crossings, which could allow trade at those ports soon after the New Mexico borders open.
“Right now, it’s my understanding that only cattle inspected and dipped in Chihuahua will be exported into New Mexico,” he said. “We’re hoping to see that with the new pre-inspection adjustments being put together for Santa Teresa, MOUs will be approved for the other Mexican border crossings.”
Manzanares explained that there are hundreds of U.S. stocker operators, feedlots, and ranchers with feed, grass and wheat pasture who depend on imports of Mexican feeder cattle.
“We need those cattle to keep these operations going in the U.S.,” Manzaneras said. “And hundreds of Mexican ranchers rely on the U.S. market for their livelihoods.”
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