Guam Legislature OKs live cattle import from the CNMI

The Guam Legislature passed on Friday a bill that, once signed by the territory’s governor, would pave the way for the CNMI to export cattle or livestock to Guam. 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.

“We’re one step from successfully getting this done,” CNMI Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Arnold Palacios told Saipan Tribune hours after the bill’s passage at the Guam Legislature.

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 and to remove the requirement that cattle be free of Anaplasomosis.

Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo is expected to sign the bill, as he and CNMI Gov. Eloy S. Inos agreed to work together on improving trade relations between the two island territories. That was during the Marianas Governors Summit held on Saipan late last year.

During their inaugural session in November, the Mariana Islands Legislature Association comprising CNMI and Guam lawmakers also identified this as among key topics of discussion. The CNMI delegation requested Guam lawmakers to revise the current law. MILA is an arm of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures, the current president of which is Guam’s Won Pat.

Won Pat said Saturday she’s pleased that her colleagues in the Guam Legislature passed her bill on Friday, which, if enacted into law, would streamline the process for testing of cattle for importation into Guam from the CNMI.

“Local cattle farmers [in] Guam and the CNMI will have the opportunity to develop this industry. This would mean more revenues and more affordable and fresh sources of beef,” Won Pat told Saipan Tribune, when sought for comment.

She said the next step for Guam would be to build a slaughterhouse where the meat from cattle and pigs could be prepared for sale in local markets.

“Fresh, local meat is beneficial to our island and the CNMI because it provides a sustainable food base. There is definitely a niche for this market,” Won Pat said.

CNMI ranchers also look forward to the bill’s passage into law.

Isidoro Cabrera, a longtime rancher in the CNMI, said Sunday night he’s “very happy and glad” the bill passed and now only awaits the Guam governor’s signature.

“It’s about time ranchers and farmers on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota could start exporting live cows and cattle to Guam. It will help both economies,” he said in a phone interview. Instead of Guam importing from other places, it could now import from the CNMI, which is only less than an hour away, he said.

Won Pat said the breeding of livestock between Guam and the CNMI would also strengthen the genetic line. She said local farmers in Guam showed their support for the bill and provided testimony during the public hearing.

Won Pat also encourages the Guam governor to sign the bill into law “so that Guam and CNMI farmers can finally begin importing cattle to Guam.”

The Inos administration is also optimistic about the bill’s progress. Press secretary Angel Demapan earlier said a regulation in particular that has made it difficult for livestock transport is the requirement for an anaplasmosis test as a condition of entry into Guam.

“Anaplasmosis is a cattle disease that is endemic to Guam and the CNMI. However, it is no longer considered to be of major importance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” Demapan said. The CNMI, he said, has sought to enhance and facilitate movement of CNMI cattle to Guam, “where a serious inbreeding problem is widely evident.”

“These overly restrictive quarantine regulations have been causing unnecessary and unwanted productive and reproductive problems and failures,” Demapan had said.

For several years, the CNMI DLNR has been requesting Guam’s Department of Agriculture to propose amendments to phase out entry requirements and conditions that are no longer considered essential, are overly restrictive, or are not performing their intended purpose. The matter has since involved the CNMI and Guam governors and lawmakers.