Five trucks carrying 100 tons of avocados stopped at Mexico-US border
Director of the avocado producers’ association of Jalisco, Ignacio Gomez, first thought the decision to halt the shipment may have had something to do with Trump's election after his campaign calls for renegotiating trade deals, but it was later shown to be caused by a failure to come to an agreement on a trade deal.
The Rural Development Secretariat of Jalisco stated that last May the USDA officially certified the avocado production of several municipalities, granting them an export-grade qualification.
However, more administrative barriers went up, further delaying permission for the fruit’s export. But further negotiations were supposed to have cleared the way.
Two days later, the shipment was stopped at the border in Reynosa, Tamaulipas due to “setbacks in the implementation of the required protocols,” according to the Rural Development Secretariat of Jalisco.
On Friday producers decided to redirect part of the shipment to Canada and the remainder to the domestic market.
Apparently, the agreement between both countries was that Jalisco avocados would be granted access to the U.S., if that country’s potatoes could enter the domestic market in return.
That part of the agreement “got complicated” earlier last week, triggering the USDA’s rejection of the Jalisco avocados, said the state’s Rural Development Secretary.
“This will pass simply as an awkward moment,” said Héctor Padilla, who acknowledged the anger of producers but urged that everyone involved must move on because “in the end what we’re looking for is to open up an important market for the producers and business people of the state.”
source: mexicodaily.com, telesurtv.net
