News Releases and other News Material/Number 01194/0016
Release No. 0016.94
Kendra Pratt (301) 436-4898
Ron Hall (202) 720-3310
USDA TO REQUIRE UNIFORM EARTAGS ON IMPORTED MEXICAN CATTLE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6--The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now requiring that all cattle imported from Mexico be identified with numbered blue eartags issued by the Mexican government.
At the request of Mexican officials, the amended regulations state that the official eartags are issued by the Secretaria de Agricultura y Recursos Hidraulicos (SARH), which is the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
This uniform eartag identification will help to ensure that APHIS can trace all imported cattle back to their original herds in Mexico. Previously, the import regulations did not standardize either the color or source of the eartags, although numbered metal tags have been required for identifying cattle imported into this country from Mexico since 1990.
Each year, about one million Mexican cattle are imported into the United States. About 99 percent of cattle imported are young steers consigned to feedlots before slaughter.
The final rule was published in the Dec. 28 Federal Register.
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