Meltdown for Millennials! Avocado shortage looms for US after violent outbreak at inspection post in Mexico
The US government has suspended inspections of avocado and mango shipments after two Department of Agriculture employees were attacked in Mexico.
The American workers were attacked and held against their will on Saturday while inspecting avocados in the municipality of Michoacán, Paracho.
According to local reports, the workers were on their way to work when they were violently attacked in the street by protesters in Aranza.
According to Ambassador Ken Salazar, they are no longer being held hostage, but as a result the movement of avocados to the US will be delayed.
No one has been arrested for the assault.
A farmer loads fruit boxes with avocados onto a truck in an orchard in the municipality of Uruapan, state of Michoacan, Mexico (stock image)
The US government has halted inspections of avocado and mango shipments from Michoacán, Mexico after two US Department of Agriculture employees were attacked and temporarily detained by assailants over the weekend.
A man works in an avocado orchard in Santa Ana Zirosto, a city in the state of Michoacán in western Mexico – the only state allowed to export avocados to the United States
The employees work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Because the U.S. also grows avocados, inspectors in Mexico work to ensure that exported avocados do not carry diseases that could harm U.S. crops.
“To ensure the safety of our agricultural inspection teams, APHIS has suspended avocado and mango inspections in Michoacan until these safety issues are resolved,” Salazar said.
Michoacán is Mexico’s largest exporter of avocados.
The country exports avocados to at least 34 countries. However, the states of Michoacán and Jalisco are the only states that are allowed to send avocados to Canada, Japan and the United States.
The suspension of inspections will not affect operations in other Mexican states, according to Salazar.
Michoacan Governor Alfredo Ramírez told Mexico’s Radio Formula on Tuesday that the inspectors were stopped in protest by residents of Aranza.
He downplayed the situation and suggested they were never in danger. He said he contacted the U.S. Embassy the next day and state forces provided security to the state’s avocado producers and packers.
Local producers stand by bags of freshly harvested avocados at a market in Tenancingo de Degollado, Mexico. The avocado industry will generate $3.2 billion for the Mexican economy in 2023
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said during his daily press conference on Wednesday that plans are being drawn up to ensure the safety of inspectors.
The leftist leader added that Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena will meet with Salazar to resolve the issue.
“If they feel that there are threats to their inspectors, let us try to protect and help them, but not take unilateral measures that do not correspond to the good relationship we have,” López Obrador said.
Inspections were also suspended in 2022 when a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee received death threats for investigating shipments of avocados grown in the central state of Puebla and shipped to Michoacán.
The suspension was lifted a week later after Mexican authorities guaranteed the safety of American inspectors.
Juan Anaya, the director of Agricultural Market Consulting Group, told Radio Formula that the latest pause in inspections could have drastic consequences for the economy as avocado exports generated $3.2 billion in profits in 2023. At least 300,000 people in Michoacán work in orchards and sites. .
“This is going to cause serious problems,” Anaya said.