Feds finally open cattle inspection sites on U.S. side of border

cattleThe Obama administration dragged its feet long enough, but finally two contingency livestock inspection facilities have been opened in Southern Arizona. Earlier this year, the federal government claimed that cartel violence forced it to halt cattle importations into the United States.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed that finally contingency inspection facilities have been opened at Douglas and Nogales as well as Columbus, N.M., according to Congressman Ron Barber.

“Hundreds of thousands of cattle enter the United States from Mexico annually – and when there is a disruption in those imports, it is a huge economic blow to our border communities,” said Barber.

Cattle normally are inspected in Mexico before being allowed to enter the United States. But in January, cattle importations through Douglas were halted delivering a serious blow to the economies of Douglas and other parts of Southern Arizona. However sources say that the inspectors were never at risk from the cartels as the inspection areas were not in the cartels’ normal domain and line of fire. The government’s version of the situation caused deep distrust in area ranchers, who were familiar with the sites.

When the inspections were stopped, Barber spoke with officials at every level of USDA and wrote letters calling on USDA officials to explain their decisions to halt the inspections in Agua Prieta. Barber told the USDA he would personally escort U.S. inspectors into Mexico to demonstrate that the area was safe.

The ranchers and area residents suffered in near silence and few know of their plight. The ADI covered the situation and Barber announced later that he was told that he had been given tentative notice from USDA that it would resume inspections in mid-May if the safety of inspectors could be assured and other steps were taken. Inspections and importation of cattle resumed May 19.

To prevent a reoccurrence of that, the USDA today said the alternative inspection facilities built in the United States will keep cattle moving across the border if inspectors are unable to cross into Mexico.

“Our hope is that we never have to use one of these facilities and our inspectors can continue to safely cross into Mexico to conduct inspections,” said Edward Avalos, undersecretary of marketing and regulatory programs at USDA. “But we are prepared to adjust and utilize these facilities, which have the same capacity as the inspection locations in Mexico, to maintain trade at the same level and minimize impact to the local economies.”

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