MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Embassy announced Friday that Washington is lifting a ban on inspections of Mexican avocados, freeing the way for exports to resume.
The suspension of inspections had threatened Mexico’s $3 billion annual exports and raised the possibility of price increases for U.S. consumers.
Ambassador Ken Salazar said in a statement the decision came after Mexico and the United States agreed “to enact the measures that ensure the safety” of agricultural inspectors who are in charge of making sure Mexican avocados don’t carry diseases or pests that would harm U.S. orchards.
Salazar did not describe those measures or whether they would address reports of Mexican growers and packers playing fast and loose with sanitary measures designed to protect U.S. production.
The inspections were halted last week after one of the U.S. inspectors was threatened in the western state of Michoacan, where growers are routinely subject to extortion by drug cartels.
The move shows the dangers posed by drug cartel turf battles and the extortion of avocado growers in western Mexico. (CNN, Getty Images)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that the inspector had received a threat “against him and his family.”
It said the inspector had “questioned the integrity of a certain shipment, and refused to certify it based on concrete issues.”
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