Just before the Super Bowl
US halts imports of Mexican avocados
02/13/2022 11:43 p.m
During the Super Bowl, Americans like to consume tortilla chips with guacamole in front of the TV at home. But just before the sporting event, the United States suspended imports of avocados from Mexico. Reason is the threat of a US inspector.
According to its own statements, the world’s largest avocado producer, Mexico, is not allowed to deliver avocados to the USA until further notice. According to a statement from the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, the northern neighboring state stopped imports of the green fruit after a US animal and plant health inspector in the Mexican state of Michoacán received a threatening call on his work cell phone.
The import ban became known on the weekend of the Super Bowl football final, when a particularly large number of people in the USA traditionally prepare the avocado cream guacamole. An avocado shortage for this year’s Super Bowl is not to be feared, however, as large quantities have already been exported to the United States in recent weeks.
Michoacán, the only Mexican state fully authorized by the US authorities to export avocados, has suffered, like all of Mexico, from a lot of violence. The violence is largely at the hands of cartels involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and distribution wars. According to a report by the AP news agency, many avocado farmers are at risk of extortion.
The government sent around 1,000 soldiers to Michoacán during the week. In the past six weeks, producers from the western state had exported 135,000 tons of avocados to the United States, according to the Department of Agriculture. In Mexico, where avocados are of cultural and economic importance, around 1.5 million tons of avocados are harvested each year.