AUSTIN -- Texas breeding cattle are able to cross into Mexico for the first time in more than four years.
An agreement between the U.S. and Mexico restores a market worth more than $80 million to cattlemen in Texas, the nation's largest producer of cattle.
The agreement establishing consistent trade relationships for breeding cattle between the U.S., Canada and Mexico was announced in March by the Texas Department of Agriculture.
The reopening of the Mexican border to breeding beef cattle is consistent with the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health, the state agency said in a release.
In early March, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples banned the movement of Canadian cattle through the agency's export facilities along the Mexican border, and New Mexico, Arizona and California joined the effort a short time later.
After the December 2003 discovery of BSE in a Canadian-born animal in the state of Washington, the U.S. worked with Mexico and other global trading partners to re-establish beef and live cattle trade consistent with international standards.
Several countries have recognized those standards and have been accepting U.S. live cattle.
In May 2007, the world organization formally classified the U.S. as a controlled- risk country for BSE, which with strong U.S. regulatory safeguards allows trade of beef and live cattle consistent with international standards.
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