Pedro Luis Benitez Velez, head of Sagarpa in Michoacan, announced that the SENASA had detected a number of pesticides residues which were higher than what is allowed in seven batches of avocado, three of which correspond to the state of Michoacan and the other four to the state of Jalisco.
Following this detection, the Sagarpa took urgent measures to protect and strengthen the sanitary, safety and traceability protocols of avocado exports, especially for exports to Japan, one of the world's most demanding markets. Benitez Velez asked producers, packers, traders and exporters of avocados to fight to protect the market and the prestige of the Michoacan avocado, which has taken many years of work and effort to earn.
As a first measure to ensure the fruit's traceability, the Sagarpa will only issue CFI certificates to those packers and exporters who are registered in the Senasica or in the SRRC and the only people that will be allowed to export avocados to Japan are those who already comply with the USDA's export schemes.
Benitez Velez, reported that there are a total of 76,458 certified hectares in Michoacan. Currently, he said, the country exports about 600,000 tons of avocados, mainly to the U.S., Canada, France, Russia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Japan. The production value of avocado exports is around 16,000 million pesos.
Source: Agency Quadratin