Avocado and mango inspections in Michoacán, Mexico remain suspended from export to the U.S. This follows news that there were security concerns for Animal & Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) personnel in Michoacán, and the suspensions will remain paused until the security situation is reviewed and protocols and safeguards are in place for APHIS personnel.
Notably, Mexican avocado and mango exports are overall not blocked–the pause of the inspection programs does not affect avocados and mangos in transit.
Following this news, The Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico (APEAM) stated that it is intensifying its collaborative efforts with authorities to resume those exports from Michoacán to the U.S.
Photos: APEAM
Addressing the incident
"The interruption of avocado exports from Michoacán was due to an incident alien to the avocado industry, also affecting other agricultural exports of the state. In response, APEAM has joined forces with the Government of the State of Michoacán, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Embassy in Mexico, and national authorities to establish an action plan and resume exports," says the APEAM statement.
The update notes that avocado exports from Jalisco, Mexico are not affected and continue to operate normally.
As far as other commodities go, the concerns are greater for avocados than mangoes. "My take on this mango suspension is that it's not going to affect the mango market much because Michoacán is almost done with mangos and most of the shippers/packers have moved on to Nayarit and Southern Sinaloa," says Jesse Garcia of LA Produce Distributors. "As far as avocadoes, it could hurt that market since they are the biggest exporter. However, this has happened before–the government will step in and make sure the USDA personnel are safe. In the meantime Jalisco also has avocados and I'm sure it will ramp up production."
Previous incident
Indeed in February 2022 and shortly before the Super Bowl--a super avocado-consuming event–the U.S. suspended avocado imports from Mexico for almost a week after a threat was made to a U.S. plant inspector.
With this recent suspension, Rob Ybarra, executive vice-president of Villita Avocados says this will set back the availability of avocados and pricing will certainly go up. "It was already a very unstable market due to limited availability of the 2023-2024 crop season," he says. "This certainly does not help the situation. However, USDA personnel should be safe and free of any danger as they perform their duties. They are the "unsung heroes" in this avocado world. Without them, we don't have any avocados vetted for our USA consumption so we are all hoping for a fast and peaceful solution so we can all get back to business."
For more information:
APHIS
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/
APEAM
https://avocadoinstitute.org/
LA Produce Distributors
https://laproducedistributors.com/
Villita Avocados
https://villitaavocados.com/