Mexican authorities in the region of Jalisco, a region important for pig production, have signed a collaborative agreement with the Regional Union of Pig Farmers of Jalisco to protect the sector from the risks posed by the entry of devastating pig diseases, such as African swine fever.

The agreement was signed by the pig farmers' union, the Jalisco Safety and Agrifood Quality Health Agency (ASICA and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER Jalisco).

The objective of the agreement is to establish the general bases and mechanisms to collaborate in joint research, preservation, training, advice, programs and workshops activities. The collaborative group also aims to form working groups of experts and regulators, as well as participation in activities that require technical-scientific accompaniment in matters of health, safety and agri-food quality, animal health intelligence, animal health diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance.

At the time of the announcement, head of SADER Jalisco, Ana Lucía Camacho Sevilla, highlighted the importance of working in coordination with various instances in favour of the development of the Jalisco countryside and its people, such as the Regional Union of Porciculturists of Jalisco (URPJ).

"Faced with the threats we have right now with African swine fever, avian influenza, etc., this type of approach, regardless of what a role says, is fundamental and are the ones that give us the tone to reach agreements and lay the foundations to draw the path of work that we have to follow, not unilaterally as a government," she said.

The Agency for Health, Safety and Agri-Food Quality of Jalisco highlighted that this agreement will generate a link for the organisation and analysis of the information collected.

Currently countries such as the Dominican Republic and Haiti have the presence of African swine fever, so it is extremely important to strengthen the Jalisco pig sector, since the state ranks first in pig production nationwide, with a value close to 20 million pesos, according to data from the Agri-food and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP).

The president of the Organization of Mexican Farmers (OPORMEX), Heriberto Hernández Cárdenas and directors of SADER Jalisco were also present at the signing of the agreement.