The health agencies of Mexico The United States and Canada have agreed to enhance their technical and scientific collaboration in epidemiological surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, non-intrusive phytosanitary and animal health inspection, and emergency care due to the entry of pests and exotic diseases that could compromise food production and trade. South America in danger.

The two countries share a broad health and agri-food safety culture, which has allowed the North American region to position itself as one of the main producing regions of healthy and safe food for the world, underlined the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Officials from the National Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality Service (Senasica) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) met to take stock of the joint actions that worked in 2022 and the projects that will be launched this year, he detailed.

During the reception, the agricultural agency pointed out that the technical areas of Senasica maintain permanent communication with the agricultural department of the Canadian Embassy in Mexico and with their counterparts at the CFIA, in order to update update sanitary procedures and protocols, for the benefit of their production systems.

Director of the United States-Mexico Commission for the Prevention of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Other Foreign Animal Diseases (CPA), Roberto Navarro López, shared with the Canadian delegation an assessment of the programs the Mexican agency runs to prevent the entry and spread of diseases not present in the national territory and, where appropriate, control and eradicate those that enter it due to various factors, such as the arrival of wild animals, trade flows, migration and tourism.

He clarified that, like Canada, Mexico is currently facing an epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influence (HPAI) AH5N1, which was transmitted by the passage of waterfowl through the national territory during the winter season.

He pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture has activated the National Animal Health Emergency Device (Dinesa), which allows the implementation of all the human and financial resources available to the Mexican government to prevent the disease from establishing itself. in the country.

The official highlighted the existing twinning between the exotic disease diagnostic laboratories of Senasica and Winnipeg, located in the Canadian province of Manitoba, which allows the exchange of scientific knowledge, the standardization of techniques and the exchange of highly pathogens.

CFIA’s Executive Director of International Affairs, Parthi Muthukumarasamy, said HPAI AH5N1 is currently the biggest public health emergency facing Canada, one for which more than 700 officials at the Agency are constantly dealing. of the problem in nine of the country’s 10 provinces. .

He pointed out that based on the good results countries like Mexico have had in containing HPAI, the CFIA is considering using emergency vaccination as a complementary control measure to combat this disease.

He indicated that Mexico is one of Canada’s main food suppliers, mainly beef and pork, so it is essential to know the actions it takes to reduce the risk of entry and spread of pests and pests. diseases of economic importance.

He said that the health inspection specialists of his country are interested in knowing about the canine school of Senasica, which, he observed, has become a benchmark for the American continent.

With regard to agri-food safety, he announced that his government was finalizing the details of the equivalence agreement for organic products between the two countries, which should increase the trade of this type of food between the two nations, benefit of consumers. .

The meeting, for Senasica, was also attended by the directors of the canine school, Pedro Macías Canales; Phytosanitary regulations, Israel Cueto Espinosa; Projects and Institutional Development, René Hernández Ruiz; imports and exports, Fernando Rivera Espinoza; and food safety, organic farming and pesticides for agricultural use, José Luis Lara de la Cruz, among others.

The Canadian government was represented by Canada’s agricultural advisor to Mexico, Francis Lindsay, and the CFIA’s director of food import and export, Kanwal Kochhar, among others.