Cesar Arellano Garcia
The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 5, 2024, p. 17
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) reported that it is making progress in negotiations with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) so that Mexican producers of mango, mamey, sapodilla, Mexican plum, soursop, black fig and potato can export to that market.
He said that officials from the National Service for Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the interest of both nations to consolidate efforts to intensify the trade of safe agricultural food products for consumers.
In a virtual meeting, the parties stressed the importance of working together to offer the population food that meets phytosanitary requirements and to jointly promote the safe trade of agricultural and food products.
The above, with the purpose of mitigating the circulation, introduction, dispersion and establishment of pests of quarantine interest, associated with the import and export of products and by-products of plant origin; facilitating commercial exchange and safeguarding the phytosanitary status of both countries.
Representing Mexico, the meeting was attended by the director in chief of Senasica, Javier Calderón Elizalde, and the director general of Plant Health, Francisco Ramírez y Ramírez.
Mark Davidson, Rebecca Stankiewicz, Patricia Abad, Jennifer Jones and Amanda Elkhateeb spoke on behalf of the United States.
The Ministry of Agriculture highlighted the importance of strengthening relations between APHIS and Senasica, organizations with close ties, with the aim of maintaining a stable and safe supply of food for the population.
Mexico has raised the possibility that technical personnel from Senasica carry out the pre-inspection for the export of mango and avocado to the United States, considering that the country maintains reliable field strategies in which specialized personnel authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture participate, which allows for effective pest management.
He indicated that Senasica carries out phytosanitary campaigns that strengthen export programs without verification, as in the case of mango with hydrothermal treatment to countries in the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
On the other hand, the importance of promoting the export of fruits such as soursop, mamey, Mexican plum and sapodilla with irradiation treatment was highlighted, in order to reduce the risk of carrying pests, which is why the possibility of installing a plant with this technology in the south of Chiapas is being considered, which will provide service to producers in the south of the country.
The US agency stressed the importance of establishing coordinated actions between both agencies for the treatment and certification of products.
He highlighted Senasica’s commitment to maintaining the phytosanitary quality of national goods, which, he said, has been essential to position them in the international market.
