USA suspends avocado inspections in Mexico for safety reasons

MEXICO CITY – The United States has suspended safety inspections of avocados and mangoes from one of Mexico’s largest producing states after a safety incident involving U.S. Department of Agriculture employees, an Agriculture Department spokesman said Monday.

The spokesman said Mexican exports from the western state of Michoacan had not been blocked and that avocados and mangoes already in transit were not affected by the suspension of inspections. However, it said the inspections were suspended “until further notice.”

In particular, a prolonged suspension of avocado inspections could deal a significant blow to one of Mexico’s most important agricultural export products, which has become increasingly popular with U.S. consumers in recent years.

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The inspections “remain suspended until the safety situation is reviewed and protocols and safeguards are in place,” the USDA spokesman said.

Government sources in Michoacan told Reuters that the temporary suspension came last Saturday following an incident at a demonstration in support of local police in the municipality of Paracho.

Earlier, the governor of Michoacán, Alfredo Ramirez, told reporters on Monday that he had been in constant contact with US authorities since Sunday and had given them a “guarantee” that adequate export conditions existed in the state.

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Ramires said Tuesday he hoped to have “good news” soon about a resumption of avocado exports to the United States after the U.S. suspended inspections of the crop over the weekend due to a safety incident.

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