The first shipments of avocados sent from Jalisco to the United States in more than 100 years were unable to cross the border last week and Mexico’s federal government is being blamed for the fiasco.
As reported in this newspaper, the five trailers of avocados left Ciudad Guzman on January 16 to much hullabaloo. The clearance for Jalisco avocados came last year after the U.S. Federal Department of Agriculture certified Jalisco orchards as free from all pests.
At first, the avocado farmers had no idea why border agents denied the trailers entry into the United States. Some believed it had to do with the imminent swearing into office of President Donald Trump.
Talking to media, however, Jalisco Secretary of Rural Development Héctor Padilla said that the problem was caused by a legal suit filed by Mexican potato growers against their U.S. counterparts.
Padilla explained that Jalisco’s avocado export deal was tied to permitting U.S. potatoes to freely cross the border into Mexico. Until the legal action is resolved, neither U.S. potatoes nor Jalisco avocados can be exported, he said.
After it became clear that the avocados would not be reaching their destination, two of the five trailers returned from Reynosa to Ciudad Guzman, one remained in Monterrey, and two were given permission to drive through to Canada.
Padilla dismissed the idea that the inauguration of Trump was in some way linked to the problem, and said it was pure “coincidence.”
Padilla said he is confident the matter will be settled and that the Jalisco avocado farmers will soon be able to take advantage of the large export market in the United States, from which only the state of Michoacan currently benefits.
Meanwhile, Padilla said efforts will continue to boost exports of Jalisco avocados to around 125 other countries.