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Fast paced, eye-opening tour of Mexico

I spent last week in Mexico on a U.S. Media Tour hosted by the U.S. Meat Export Federation and sponsored in part by United Soybean Board. We began our tour in Mexico City, flew mid-week to Monterrey, and drove to the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo, right across the border from Laredo, Texas. Just a few miles west of this border town is an “area” called Columbia, a port of entry where U.S. meat products imported into Mexico are inspected. The trip was fast-paced and eye-opening for our group of 7 journalists and assorted representatives from USMEF and USB. I see a few things more clearly because of this opportunity.

Mexico is a country of contrast. We visted several supermarkets where everyone in the meat department wore white rubber boots, a white coat or apron, a hat or hair net, and a face mask. I’ve never seen anyone in a U.S. butcher shop or grocery meat department wearing a face mask.
In contrast to the sterile environment of the supermarkets, we visited a public market where fresh meat, fruits and vegetables are sold. Many Mexicans still buy their meat daily from a public market or a wet market, where the meat is killed early that same morning, so it is “fresh.” The mindset has been that if the meat has to be refrigerated, it is yesterday’s product, and considered “leftovers.” Warm meat is fresh meat.

Walking through a supermarket in Mexico City, I could have been in any city in the United States, were it not for the wider aisles. The shelves are stocked full of the same types of products we see in American grocery stores. Still, according to Gilberto Lazano, Mexico’s Director for USMEF, many Mexican consumers go to the supermarket to buy everything except their meat.

We visited S &R Forwarding, one of the most important custom agents for meat product imports into Mexico, at the Columbia bridge. Under federal jurisdiction, Rogelio Rodriguez and his partner own the building and the concession where between 400 – 600 truckloads of agricultural products come in to Mexico each week. Paperwork, as is often the case in the U.S., is the biggest problem. The documentation has to be 100% in order, or the shipment will be either held or refused. Lot numbers, date of shipment, country of origin certification, USDA authorized and registered plant origin, etc. must be in order before a physical inspection by SENASICA, the Mexican equivalent of APHIS/FDA takes place. The Chief SENASICA inspector told me his work is to verify everything that has already been done by USDA before the meat leaves the U.S.

During the time we were there, we watched as truckloads of turkey thighs from Ohio, hams from Swift in Marshalltown, Iowa, hams from Excel in Iowa, beef top rounds from Cactus, Texas, and horse meat from Dallas, Texas were physically inspected. I was impressed by the cleanliness, the attention to detail, and the pride that the workers exhibited. “It is because of NAFTA,” I was told by one worker.

We met with the Mexican equivalent of the U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee one morning in Mexico City. We spent 3 hours with them, but after the first 5 minutes I realized that “political” in the U.S. cannot hold a candle to “political” in Mexico. Through a translator, one of these nice gentlemen told us, “We are Congressman. We stand on the side of Mexican producers.”

I asked the question that received the greatest response, “How do Mexican producers feel about NAFTA?” There was silence as the question was translated for the congressmen, and then a rumble of chuckles and shaking of heads. One gentleman leaned into his microphone, and shaking his head, said “Not good, Cyndi.”

According to these men, there are unintended consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement. One gentleman from central Mexico told me, “We have had good and bad experiences with NAFTA. The trade balance for beef, pork, lamb, dairy, and poultry has been a deficit for Mexico, and it continues. The consequences have been serious for Mexican producers. U.S. producers have more access to financing. U.S. cattlemen enjoy higher subsidies because of your farm bill. We are at a structural disadvantage, and little can be done in the short run. Mexico’s government lacks taxpayer money to fund – to help – our producers.”

Mexico is our 3rd largest agricultural market after Canada and Japan. Mexico has more bilateral trade agreements than any other country. Our greatest advantage is our proximity. Gilberto Lazano said, “Mexico is a mirror of the U.S. economy, but when the United States catches a cold, Mexico gets pneumonia.” In areas of Mexico with extremely high degrees of poverty and low development, they face competition from a world super-power, the U.S. In many ways, Mexico is still a 3rd world country. In other respects, it greatly resembles parts of the U.S. It is indeed a land of contrast.

45% of Mexico’s population is under the age of 19, and 75% of the population is under 40, so much of the marketing from USMEF is targeting and as Lazano explains, “planting the seed for the future.” The younger generation is being educated about food safety so are more likely to shop at a supermarket instead of a public or wet market; they appreciate convenience foods; and there is a growing wave of concern about obesity in their generation.

Overall, Mexican consumers like U.S. meat. The general consensus is that U.S. beef is more consistent than what is raised domestically or what is imported from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or Argentina.