Mexico City.– Based on the compliance demonstrated by Mexican producers with the work plan for the export of avocado from Mexico to the United States, the governments of both countries agreed to transfer the sampling and certification activities of orchards to the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).
In a statement, the federal agency said that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (Aphis-USDA) has given its trust to the National Service for Health, Safety and Agri-Food Quality (SENASICA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, so that Mexican inspectors will supervise the absence of pests in the avocado orchards participating in the program.
“Aphis staff will continue to monitor the orchards in a documentary manner to verify their phytosanitary condition and, if they consider it necessary, they can also do so in person. “Additionally, Aphis, together with Senasica, continues to be responsible for continuing to directly supervise each of the packaging plants that export avocado from Mexico to the United States,” he said.
He explained that the above reflects that producers, packers and exporters of avocado in Mexico have satisfactorily carried out field activities for the detection of pests of quarantine interest and, where appropriate, for their control.
“With this transfer of responsibilities, both health agencies strengthen the ties of cooperation to continue advancing in a bilateral agenda that moves towards agile and safe trade,” he said. The work plan for avocado exports operated by Mexico and the United States establishes that Aphis is in charge of proposing an annual program of orchard inspections, a task that it has carried out uninterruptedly since 1997, together with technicians from the General Directorate of Plant Health of Senasica, to endorse the sanitary condition of exporting orchards. Avocado is a fruit of great importance for Mexico at a national and international level, due to its wide consumption, the economic value of production and the jobs it generates. Mexico is the world’s leading producer of avocado, with 2,540,715 tons. The main producing states are Michoacán, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Nayarit, Morelos and Puebla. In addition to supplying the domestic market, Mexican producers export more than 1.1 million tons of avocado to different destinations, including: the United States, Canada, Japan, Spain, El Salvador, the Netherlands and China.
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