On November 7, the Government of the United States of America officially published the final rule setting the conditions that must be met for the export of Hass avocados from Guatemala to that market. This is a fundamental step, which greenlights the elaboration and publication of the Operational Work Plan by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In 2020, a group of Guatemalan avocado producers asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food to launch the process to allow Guatemalan Hass avocados to be accepted in the United States market in free sites under a systems approach. This process has been carried out with technical rigor and is the result of teamwork between government agencies and Guatemalan avocado producers.
This milestone is of great value for the continued growth of Hass avocado cultivation in Guatemala, as it is opening up opportunities, especially for small and medium scale producers, and will promote economic development in areas prone to migration. Guatemalan avocados being admitted into the U.S. market will generate employment and prosperity in plantations, packing facilities and the entire avocado production chain, as well as in related services, thereby contributing to the country's economic development.
The publication of this final rule clearly demonstrates the willingness of the Governments of Guatemala and the United States to cooperate to generate new economic and development opportunities for the country.
Anaguacate wished to thank the Guatemalan avocado producers who have shown their trust in this initiative and have supported it. It has also expressed its gratitude to the United States Government, the United States Embassy in Guatemala, especially Ambassador Tobin Bradley; the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). We are grateful to the Government of Guatemala and the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, and most especially, to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) for their leadership and support during this process.
"At Anaguacate, we have been working since 2020 on training, boosting and transferring technical knowledge to allow as many producers as possible, regardless of their size, to be able to export to the U.S. market. Producers are ready to comply. We will continue to work on providing the necessary support in the steps to follow, aiming to maintain the reputation of Guatemalan avocados as strong as possible."
For more information:
Anaguacate
www.anaguacate.com