New World Screwworm Threatens Belize’s Livestock Trade

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is on high alert after the presence of the New World screwworm was confirmed in neighboring Mexico. On Friday, Mexico authorities made the detection at a livestock checkpoint near its border with Guatemala. The country has since informed the United States Department of Agriculture, resulting in a temporary halt of cattle imports from Mexico. The situation is quite concerning for Belize’s cattle industry, which relies heavily on trade with Mexico. Chief Executive Officer Servulo Baeza says, so far, there is no indication that Mexico will suspend trade with Belize.

Servulo Baeza, CEO, Ministry of Agriculture: “We certainly are very concerned with all the cases that have been happening around us. The last bulletin from our research shows that as of the 16th of November we have 13 confirmed cases in neighboring Guatemala. And right subsequent to that, on November 22nd, Mexico reported its first case. It hasn’t been published yet officially, but it’s already confirmed. As a result of that, the USA has closed the border to Mexican export of cattle into the USA. It’s very hard for us to really question what will be the immediate effect to us as we are still able to export to Mexico but Mexico exports some of the…..the company that buys from Belize they supply both local markets in Mexico, they supply to the USA and they also supply way up to Canada. In fact, when they visited the plant, that’s one of the things that they said that some of our cattle actually processed meats for our cattle were reaching all the way up to Canada. So how that will affect the market, it’s very difficult to say right now. There are too many ifs, there are too many variables at this point. Another thing of issue is that Mexico has also closed its border to Guatemala. So Guatemala is no longer able to sell cattle into Mexico either. Because they’re still trying to work out exactly what changes there will be in the protocols and requirements.”

CEO Baeza added that while Belizean remains free of the pest, the ministry is working closely with the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) to sensitize farmers and increase surveillance along the border. 

Servulo Baeza, CEO, Ministry of Agriculture: “To a certain extent, it’s still up in the air as to how exactly it will affect us. But it will affect us, it will. How exactly we might see the decline in the demand for our cattle. And then what will happen we be that maybe the prices of what cattle is being sold right now the price will start to go down because the demand will decrease. So there are quite a few things that are up in the air at this point. Thankfully, Belize is still free of the screw worm and so we can still trade with Mexico at this time. We have stepped up our surveillance. We are actively campaigning in terms of sensitization with the producers, with all the villages on the borders, in farming them. We have passed legislation to ensure that we can put the measures in place to control movement of our cattle, our livestock. So if we can put checkpoints, we can, our officers can have the legal backing to stop trucks, to check the trucks, to make sure that animals are healthy and safe to move. So we have all of that in place right now. But right now what our campaign, our strategy is to prevent the screw worm from coming into Belize right now.”

The ministry says it will continue to monitor the situation.