And in more agriculture news, earlier this week, we told you that all Belizean cattle would now be welcomed into Mexico. Policy Analyst, Milagro Matus, explained that before, it was just Orange Walk cattle that was allowed to be exported, but now, after consultations with the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, any farmer can "come up" on the Mexican market.
Here's how she explained it:
Milagro Matus, Policy Analyst, Ministry of Agriculture
"The breakthrough that the ministry has had is that now the entire country of Belize can export to Mexico. At first it was only limited to Orange Walk District. The second one is the fact now that we can use Belizean vets to be able inspect the animals under quarantine where as before we had to wait to OIRSA vets from Mexico to come in to do the inspection. It was costing around $500 US an hour for the Mexican vets to come in to do this type of inspection. The third breakthrough was the fact now that BAHA can authorize the corrals used for quarantine. Before we had to wait until the animal health department of Mexico to come it and to do that inspection, so it would take a significant amount of time. All in all, we have expanded the scope of the livestock business. Farmers from throughout the country can benefit from this business. Now the cost of doing business has also decrease because now we are contracting local vets at local rates and things can happen faster in term of authorizing quarantine corrals."
