Hass avocados cultivated in Jalisco during the harvest season beginning in April 2022 have been authorized for importation into the United States, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).
For the last 24 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has only permitted avocados cultivated in the state of Michoacan to cross its borders.
Sader said much work has gone into proving to to the USDA that Jalisco’s avocados are pest free.
Michoacan is Mexico’s main cultivator of avocados, according to Sader, producing 1.8 million tons a year, followed by Jalisco, with 248,000 tons. The agency hopes that the USDA will soon approve imports from the State of Mexico and Nayarit, which cultivate 118,000 and 70,000 tons of avocados annually.
Mexico currently exports avocados to 51 countries. The United States is the main consumer, followed by Canada, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Honduras, El Salvador, China and South Korea.