. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1056 
3 November 2010 
 
 (10-5837) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
MEASURES APPLIED BY MEXICO 
TO IMPORTS OF BOVINE MEAT 
 
Statement by Nicaragua at the Meeting Held on
 
20 and 21 October 2010  
 
  The following communication, received on 26 Octo ber 2010, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Nicaragua
. 
 
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 1. Since the entry into force of  the Free Trade Agreement between Nicaragua and Mexico on 
1 July 1998, live cattle and bovine meat and offal ha ve been one of Nicaragua's leading exports to 
Mexico.  Following Mexico's recognition by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as a 
controlled risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Mexico has been impeding 
bovine meat imports from Nicaragua since May 2010.  It should be pointed out that so far Nicaragua 
has been exporting bovine meat to countries with the same BSE status as Mexico. 
2. On the one hand, pursuant to the provisions on transparency in the WTO Agreement on the 
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measu res (SPS Agreement), Mexico has asked Nicaragua 
to inform it of what has been done with a view to Nicaragua being declared a controlled BSE-risk 
country.  In compliance with these transparency obligations, the Nicaraguan authorities concerned 
have supplied the data at their disposal, since th ey are in the process of gathering information for 
submission to the OIE and subsequent transmission to Mexico.  In spite of this, Mexico is making the 
entry of bovine meat from Nicaragua con tingent upon presentation of the full data. 
3. On the other hand, Mexico has not respected  the period of certification of Nicaragua's 
industrial plants, issued by the National Agri culture and Food Health, Safety and Quality 
Service (SENASICA) for boneless bovine meat, entra ils and offal for the period 1 September 2008 to 
1 September 2010, because SENASICA announced, via its  electronic portal for the publication of 
animal health requirements, that expiry of the cer tification of these industrial plants had been brought 
forward from September 2010 to May 2010.  Moreover, Mexico has kept the same animal health 
requirements sheet for imports of bovine meat a nd offal, thus compelling Nicaragua to obtain 
controlled BSE risk status in order to export boneless bovine meat to Mexico. 
4. In view of this problem, the relevant author ities in the Ministries of Agriculture and the 
Economy of the two countries held a videoconferen ce on 13 October 2010 to discuss the information 
Nicaragua has yet to submit and hear Mexico's scie ntific justification for making exports of boneless 
bovine meat contingent upon submission of the re quisite BSE-related information, even though the 
OIE establishes different requirements, as detailed below: 
(a) Mexico does not recognize the OIE Te rrestrial Animal Health Code's 
recommendation in point 1 of Article 11.5.1 that the veterinary authorities of the G/SPS/GEN/1056 
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  importing country should not require any B SE-related conditions, regardless of the 
risk status of the cattle population of th e exporting country, when authorizing import 
of commodities including bovine meat, for which specific conditions are laid down under (g) as concerns deboned skeletal musc le meat, stunning, and preparation of 
carcasses.  It should be noted that all these recommendations were subject to 
verification and certification by the Mexican inspectors when they visited the 
industrial plants in July 2008. 
(b) Likewise, Article 11.5.12 exempts "fresh m eat and meat products  from cattle" (those 
listed in point 1 of Article 11.5.1) from  additional BSE-related requirements, in 
accordance with the recommendations for the importation of meat and meat products 
from countries posing an undetermined BSE risk. 
Specific questions 
 
5. In accordance with Article 5.8 of the WTO SPS Agreement, Nicaragua has the following 
questions for Mexico: 
(a) Why and on what scientific grounds do the competent Mexican authorities not 
recognize the provisions of Articles 11.5.1 and 11.5.12 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code? 
(b) Have they advised either the OIE or this Committee of the establishment of a more 
stringent sanitary measure than that based on the OIE's BSE-related recommendations for trade in bovine meat? 
(c) Treatment in respect of BSE being very diffe rent for bovine meat and for offal, could 
Mexico explain why it includes these two pro ducts in its animal health requirements 
sheet? 
(d) Would Mexico please specify from which countries it imports bovine meat and what 
is the BSE-risk status of these countries? 
Conclusions 
 
6. In view of the foregoing, we regard the me asures applied by Mexico as unnecessary obstacles 
to trade, inconsistent with the relevant provi sions of the OIE and the WTO SPS Agreement, and a 
disguised restriction on international trade. 
7. Since boneless bovine meat from Nicaragua meets the specific conditions of the OIE, it is 
exempt from the additional BSE-related requireme nts, and Nicaragua accordingly requests that 
Mexico should immediately allow imports of this product. 
 
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