Avocados toast? Price and availability could suffer after USDA halts some Mexican inspections
The flow of avocados from Mexico to California could slow in the days ahead, potentially resulting in tough times for fans of guacamole and avocado toast.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week that it has suspended inspections of avocados and mangoes imported from the violence-plagued Mexican state of Michoacán, a move that could eventually result in higher prices for consumers.
The decision to stop inspections occurred after two United States Department of Agriculture employees were “recently attacked and detained while carrying out their work in the state of Michoacán inspecting avocados,” U.S. Ambassador
Ken Salazar said in a written statement. The employees are no longer in captivity, Salazar said, though he did not specify how they had been freed.
It is not clear when inspections will resume. The USDA told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday “the programs will remain paused until the security situation is reviewed, and protocols and safeguards are in place for (Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service) personnel.”
The move will not affect avocados and mangoes that are already on their way to the United States. Fruits and vegetables from other Mexican states are also not affected by the suspension, Salazar said.
While the United States
The decision to stop some inspections occurred after two USDA employees were ‘attacked and detained.’
has not provided many details about the nature of the incident, Michoacán Gov. Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla told Mexico’s Radio Formula that the incident began on Friday when a vehicle carrying two inspectors and other vehicles were stopped during a protest in the town of Paracho. The two inspectors were never in danger or detained and were soon on their way, the governor said.
“It wasn’t a criminal act directed at the inspectors,” the governor said. Demonstrators in Mexico routinely block roadways. The governor expressed confidence that inspections
would resume shortly. Michoacán produces more avocados than any other Mexican state.
More than a dozen criminal groups in Mexico are battling for control of the avocado trade, preying on wealthy orchard owners, the laborers who pick the fruit and the drivers who truck it north to the United States. Parts of Michoacán now resemble war zones, with gangs boasting powerful arsenals that include grenade launchers, drones rigged with explosives and tank-like vehicles known as “monsters,” which are equipped with machinegun turrets and steel armor.