Secretary Vilzack said that during his meeting with President López Obrador he noted that he was “concerned about inflation” and about the impact it has on the people.
The work teams of those in charge of agriculture in Mexico and the United States had two days of work in Mexico, in which they agreed to strengthen the commercial relationship in the matter, as well as work on food sufficiency.
Both officials noted that the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine aggravated problems in supply chains, caused by the coronavirus, as well as in the Ukrainian grain and fertilizer trade.
More productive capacity
One of the ways to deal with the interruption in the supply of grains and fertilizers is to “increase productive capacity”, something that Mexico is already working on, particularly in cereals, corn, rice and beans, Secretary Villalobos assured.
The Mexican official highlighted that the food trade balance between Mexico and the United States reached a record figure of 63,000 million dollars in 2021.
As a result of two days of work between Sader and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), it was announced that Mexico and the United States had completed all the necessary phytosanitary protocols and agreed to a visit end of the Mexican officials in April to authorize access to the entire Mexican market for fresh potatoes and for processing, coming from those establishments approved no later than May 15 of the present, according to the work plan.
commitments
At the meeting, both secretaries reaffirmed their mutual commitment to:
• Promote food safetyinclusive rural development, facilitating trade and promoting sustainable productivity growth.
• Continue the rural development support through increased market opportunities for agricultural producers and their products.
• Support small producers and new producers, particularly in relation to developing local and regional markets.
• Act against climate changegiving producers access to tools and technologies that allow them to increase productivity while minimizing environmental impact, and
• Strengthen cooperation on animal health issues and plant health to address emerging threats and to promote food security.
