September 16, 2013
Mexico''s H1 2013 egg imports from US double
In the first six months of this year, Mexico''s egg imports from the US doubled as a result of recent bird flu outbreaks, while US exporters to Mexico will be required to have new certificates from September 28.
A new report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service clarifies that USDA''s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is responsible for certifying shell egg as well as egg food product shipments to Mexico while the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) certifies items like fertile/hatching eggs and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for certifying liquid, frozen, or dried processed egg products.
APHIS and AMS said that this report focuses on recent changes applicable to shell eggand egg food products exported to Mexico.
On April 3, 2013, USDA announced a programme to facilitate the export of further processed eggs and egg products. The USDA''s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will verify a wide range of products containing eggs, including omelettes, frozen egg patties, crepes, hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and food containing egg extracts. The export certifications to Mexico performed by the APHIS for foods containing eggs will be discontinued.
In order to register for the new programme and schedule an audit as soon as possible, exporters who are interested in shipping egg products to Mexico need to contact AMS. Mexico will be requiring the new AMS certificates beginning on September 28, 2013.
For the first six months of this year, total egg and egg products imports into Mexico have eclipsed calendar year levels from 2012 and are expected to continue growing as per-capita consumption and food industry use of table eggs and processed egg products remain high and as the Mexican poultry industry looks to re-establish its national flock with US fertile/hatching eggs.
There is a strong demand in Mexico for eggs and egg food products as current supplies have been disrupted by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks, as indicated in FAS/Mexico''s most recent poultry annual GAIN report. Mexican prices have increased over traditional levels as a result and made new market opportunities for US table eggs and processed egg product suppliers.