Avocado imports: Inspections suspended due to safety concerns in Mexico

MEXICO CITY –

The United States has suspended safety inspections of avocados and mangoes from one of Mexico’s largest producing states due to a safety incident involving U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees, a spokesman for the agency said on Monday.

The spokesman said Mexican exports from the western state of Michoacan had not been blocked and that avocados and mangoes already in transit would not be affected by the suspension of controls, which would be 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.

“The (safety inspection) programs will 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.

The Mexican Agriculture Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2022, U.S. authorities temporarily halted shipments of avocados from Michoacán, a state that has long suffered from gang violence, citing safety issues faced by inspectors.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Chicago; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)