The arrest of two US Agriculture Department officials has led to the temporary suspension of avocado and mango safety inspections in Mexico, potentially disrupting a $2.4bn industry between the two countries, The Guardian reports.
Ambassador Ken Salazar said in a statement that the two officials were attacked and temporarily held while they were inspecting avocados in the Mexican state of Michoacan. The officials, who are employees of the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), were later released. Salazar said:
To guarantee the safety of our agricultural inspection teams, APHIS has suspended the avocado and mango inspections in Michoacán until these security problems have been resolved.
Because the US also grows avocados, US inspectors work in Mexico to ensure that exported avocados do not carry diseases that could damage the US crop.
Michoacan is Mexico’s largest avocado exporter. Michoacan Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla told Mexico’s Radio Fórmula that inspectors were stopped on 14 June during a protest by residents of Aranza in western Michoacan. He downplayed the situation, saying they were never in danger. Bedolla said he contacted the US Embassy the next day, and state forces ensured the safety of avocado growers and packers in the state. He said, referring to a potential resumption of inspections:
I hope we have good news in the coming hours.
Exports will be revived
The Mexican Growers and Packers Association said on Tuesday it is working closely with Mexican and US government officials to resume avocado exports from Michoacan.
The statement said the incident that prompted the suspension of exports was “not related to the avocado industry.”
The organisation has previously warned that its members are often the target of violence and threats from organised crime groups demanding protection money, sometimes as high as thousands of dollars per acre.
Organised crime has also been reported to bring in avocados grown in other states, not approved for export, and try to get them through US inspections. Bedolla told reporters on Monday that Mexican authorities are in talks with their US counterparts to quickly resolve the situation.
