A judge ordered Mexican authorities to curb the entry of fresh potatoes from the United States because of the potential risk of 63 pests that could affect the country.
The decision was taken by Judge Jose Francisco Perez, in response to a petition filed by an organization of potato producers and several individuals, the Federal Judicature Council (CJF) stated. The producers alleged that the measures contemplated in the regulations of the Federal Plant Protection Law put at risk the country's potato, chili, tomato, onion, eggplant, and corn crops.
The judge ruled that several measures that the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) cataloged as phytosanitary were not, "as they don't meet that objective or don't have supervision or surveillance responsibilities."
The institution did not include measures to mitigate the risk of 63 high risk quarantine pests that the import of potatoes would pose, as it established lines of action that give all pests a similar treatment, without differentiating their origin (viral, through insects, etc) or if they were aerial or terrestrial pests.
Source: EFE