Guam bill on cattle import from CNMI to become law today

Press secretary Angel Demapan said yesterday that acting Guam governor Ray Tenorio will be signing into law today a bill that would pave the way for the CNMI to export cattle or livestock to Guam. Once signed, the measure removes a required test for a cattle disease that is endemic to the whole Marianas but is no longer considered a major concern by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos, in a letter to Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo yesterday, called it “landmark legislation.”

Bill 297-32, authored by Guam Speaker Judith T. Won Pat and Sen. Vicente C. Pangelinan, amends Guam’s animal quarantine regulations to, among other things, make the importation of live animals, particularly cattle, less restrictive to import, by allowing the use of a Brucellois card or field test as an alternative to testing in a laboratory. It also removes the requirement that cattle be free of Anaplasomosis.

During the Marianas Governors’ Summit in September 2013, Inos and Calvo discussed trade barriers between Guam and the CNMI, the need to update cattle import and export requirements, and to remove unnecessary restrictions.

“Since our meeting, much progress has been achieved,” Inos told Calvo in a one-page letter.

The governors’ summit was followed by the first assembly of the Mariana Islands Legislature Association in November, which recognizes the needs to address political, social, and economic issues and concerns, including agriculture and trade relations between the CNMI and Guam.

For over three years, the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources worked with Guam’s Department of Agriculture to propose amendments to phase out entry requirements and conditions that Inos said are no longer considered essential, are overly restrictive, or are not performing their intended purpose.

“These amendments are important to advance livestock production and will be beneficial to both CNMI and Guam farmers and ranchers,” Inos said.

DLNR Secretary Arnold Palacios said the Marianas is “one step from successfully getting this done.”

Rep. Trenton Conner (Ind-Tinian) welcomed the news last night of today’s scheduled signing of the Guam bill allowing Guam to import live cattle from the CNMI.

“Tinian ranchers have been waiting and preparing for this for quite some time,” Conner told Saipan Tribune.

But he said Tinian is “trying to negotiate with the U.S. military to allow cattle ranchers to continue to use military leased area.”

“There are only limited areas on Tinian these cattle ranchers can use,” he said.