APHIS staff will continue to monitor orchards to verify their phytosanitary status and, if deemed necessary, may also do so in person.
Additionally, APHIS, in conjunction with Senasica, will continue to be responsible for directly supervising each of the packaging companies that export avocado from Mexico to the United States.
The above reflects that producers, packers and exporters of avocado in Mexico have satisfactorily carried out field activities for the detection of pests of quarantine interest and, where appropriate, for their control.
With this transfer of responsibilities, both health agencies are strengthening their ties of cooperation to continue advancing a bilateral agenda that moves towards agile and secure trade.
It is worth remembering that the Work Plan for the export of avocados operated by Mexico and the United States establishes that APHIS is responsible for proposing an annual program of orchard inspections, a task that it has carried out uninterruptedly since 1997, together with technicians from the General Directorate of Plant Health of Senasica, to endorse the health condition of exporting orchards.
The avocado is a fruit of great importance for Mexico at a national and international level, due to its widespread consumption, the economic value of its production and the jobs it generates.
Mexico is the world’s leading producer of avocados, with 2,540,715 tons. The main producing states are Michoacán, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Nayarit, Morelos and Puebla.
In addition to supplying the domestic market, Mexican producers export more than 1.1 million tons of avocado to different countries, including: the United States, Canada, Japan, Spain, El Salvador, the Netherlands and China.
