Hundreds of livestock from the CNMI are expected to be shipped to Guam \u201cas early as this summer\u201d in what Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Arnold I. Palacios described yesterday as a \u201cre-establishment of trade\u201d between the CNMI and Guam. Acting Guam governor Ray S. Tenorio signed the cattle importation bill into law on Thursday, paving the way for the movement of livestock between the two territories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a small success to build on. It opens up a range of economic opportunities for both the CNMI and Guam,\u201d Palacios told Saipan Tribune yesterday.<\/p>\n
Gov. Eloy S. Inos, who teamed up with Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo last year to make the interisland trade become a reality, branded it a \u201clandmark legislation\u201d and is \u201cvery pleased\u201d with its enactment into law.<\/p>\n
Inos designated Palacios as the lead person on the matter. Palacios said there are already ranchers from the CNMI that are ready to \u201cship hundreds of livestock in a span of a few months beginning in the summer\u2014July or August.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey already have buyers in Guam. There would be others that would follow suit. A lot of the CNMI\u2019s ranchers and farmers, and their counterparts in Guam, are expected to take advantage of this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Press secretary Angel Demapan separately said yesterday that since the matter was brought to the table during the Marianas Governors Summit last year, \u201cGov. Inos and Gov. Calvo quickly teamed up to work on this becoming a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that the law is in place, the CNMI and Guam will continue working closely to take all the necessary steps to allow ranchers to export or import their cattle,\u201d Demapan said.<\/p>\n
Guam Bill 297-32, authored by Guam Speaker Judith T. Won Pat and Sen. Vicente C. Pangelinan, is now Guam Public Law 32-161. <\/p>\n
The new law amends Guam\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
It also removes the requirement that cattle be free of Anaplasomosis, 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.<\/p>\n
After the Marianas Governors\u2019 Summit in September 2013, discussion on interisland trade continued during the first assembly of the Mariana Islands Legislature Association in November. Both events recognized the need to address political, social, and economic issues and concerns, including agriculture and trade relations between the CNMI and Guam.<\/p>\n
For over three years, the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources worked with Guam\u2019s Department of Agriculture to propose amendments to phase out entry requirements and conditions that Inos said \u201care no longer considered essential, are overly restrictive, or are not performing their intended purpose.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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