The United States on Friday ended a ban on imports of avocados from Mexico’s Michoacan state and restarted an agricultural inspection program it had halted out of concern for the safety of U.S. workers.
In its announcement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said imports could resume immediately.
The United States had paused its inspection program on Feb. 11 after U.S. inspectors were verbally threatened.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said in a statement it worked with Mexico’s government and the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico to enact “additional measures” to safeguard the safety of its inspectors.
APHIS, in a Tweet, called the agreement “Good news!”
Good news! Today the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and the U.S.D.A. reached agreement with Mexico’s Plant Protection Organization and the Packers Exporters of Mexico to resume our inspection of avocados grown in Michoacan. @USAmbMex @USEmbassyMEX https://t.co/BrdmhSaSD2 pic.twitter.com/NK0TtuvYvK
— USDA APHIS (@USDA_APHIS) February 18, 2022
Mexican President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference earlier on Friday that a resolution could come by the end of the day.
The United States imported $3.0 billion in avocados globally in 2021, the bulk of that worth $2.8 billion coming from Mexico, according to the USDA.
Michoacan, Mexico’s top avocado producing state and the only one currently approved to export to the United States, has long had security issues linked to drug gangs.
Copyright 2022 Thomson/Reuters