Avocado consumption may seem like a trend, but we’ve actually been consuming this fruit in large quantities for decades. Mass consumption in countries like China is somewhat newer, but in regions like the United States, avocado fever has been around for decades.

Mexico is vital to the consumption of this fruit in the United States, but 20 years ago there was a war in the offices starring the avocado.

Banned since 1914. Mexico is one of the best countries to grow avocados due to its climate conditions. It is estimated to produce 30% of the avocados consumed worldwide, which, in addition to deforestation, significantly affects the country’s economy. However, between 1914 and 1994, the United States vetoed the entry of Mexican avocados into the country; this decision was justified by the existence of the worm. heilipus lauriIt is a species that damages fruits, leaves and shoots.

This could mean that if earthworms and fruit flies enter the United States, they could infect native species, causing an agricultural crisis. But the North American market was too juicy to let this one escape.

California. US officials say they fear Mexican fruit parasites are invading avocado fields in California. Because yes, there were avocados in the United States, and the state responsible for the supply was California. It had good conditions and could be grown, but only from spring to autumn and when there were avocados on the table it was little more than a “party”.

Because in those years, avocado consumption was around half a kilo per person per year. Now it has risen to over three kilos per person. But let’s not stray: It is suspected that the United States’ motivation for not allowing Mexican avocados into the country was not a phytosanitary issue, but protectionism for the national crop, the California avocado.

Solutions are checked. Clearly, Mexico saw this as a major brake on the development of its economy and continued to seek ways to enter the United States. The Department of Agriculture continued to create obstacles, arguing in 1990 that there were four species of blowflies on avocados. and other insects specific to this fruit. Mexican authorities needed to prove the trade was safe, but this was an investigation that would take a long time.

In 1992, North American officials once again rejected Mexico’s claim because, in their opinion, the methodology was incorrect, but they did make some suggestions for them to revise their research protocols. In 1994, the California Avocado Commission called for a review of Mexican research so that it was now done by independent scientists (we were back to conservationism and California farmers were unhappy with Mexico’s involvement).

After an exchange of ideas between agents from both countries, Mexico proposed something interesting: exporting to certain northeastern states between October and February. Due to the heat, parasites cannot survive. It seemed like a solution, but we had several years of paperwork ahead of us.

NAFTA and the Avocado Commission. Throughout this war, the United States, Canada, and Mexico were proposing that Mexico sign a free trade agreement. This will provide greater ease in importing and exporting goods, reducing costs and bureaucracy. Of course, this did not mean an obvious barrier to trade, as Mexican avocado producers discovered. This is known as NAFTA or the ‘North American Free Trade Agreement’.

Even so, as the Department of Agriculture and Mexican health officials appeared to have reached an agreement, the California Farmers Commission launched a frontal assault to undermine the lawmakers’ work, filling the administrative docket and managing to extend the comment period until 1995. They wanted to delay Mexico’s entry as long as possible, even asking the Secretary of Agriculture to peer review the scientific data provided by Mexico.

Avocado in the north. After negotiations by authorities, on July 3, 1995, the United States published a proposal in the Federal Register allowing shipments of Mexican avocados to 19 northeastern states and the District of Columbia, but could only ship grown avocados. Certified orchards in Michoacán and from November to February. Yes, that’s what Mexico proposed months ago.

It was implemented on February 5, 1997, and it took this long because the Commission did not give up: they did not want Mexican avocados to cross the border under any circumstances, arguing repeatedly that Mexican avocados were unsafe. This is an issue that the Commission debated many years later, but the story is not over yet.

If you touch the avocados I’ll eat the corn. After five years of pest-free shipments from Mexico to the United States, Mexico pressured the U.S. government to open the doors of all states. If the problem with avocados continues, Mexico will go after the goods it buys from the USA, where corn comes to the fore. The United States is the largest exporter of corn, and Mexico consumes a large portion of this grain.

But he didn’t need to go to such extremes. With the resignation, the Commission said years later: “The Mexican avocado industry became involved on political, technical and procedural fronts. It all happened while relations between the United States and Mexico were improving with the election of George W. Bush and Vicente Fox.” It has accelerated the pace of rulemaking by empowering bureaucrats and trade officials.” As a result, Mexico will be able to export to 31 states.

2005, happy “ending”. In the following years, the Commission continued its work and filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Agriculture in December 2001. They sought to overturn not only the November 2001 Final Rule, which allowed access to 31 states, but also the original 1997 rule that allowed access to Mexican avocados for the first time.

The commission’s argument was the same as always: Mexican imports put U.S. agriculture at serious risk of pest infestation. After years of wrangling and claims that the Government ignored 700 fruit flies and 2,100 root curculionids found near approved orchards in Michoacan, the outcome was less than positive for the Commission: imports of avocados were allowed under certain phytosanitary conditions.

The debate continues with another face. According to the Mexican government’s data for 2022, and in terms of value rather than tons, Mexico is the main exporter of avocados in the world, and the USA is the largest importer. This includes avocados, both fresh and whole, and guacamole. It is an industry that is vital to the American nation, and we have recently seen that it can be used as a method of oppression.

California avocado entrepreneurs saw in 2018 that they could work with the Trump administration to remove barriers that would prevent imports of the fruit from Mexico. It’s something that doesn’t bear fruit, but just two years ago we saw again how the US crippled avocado imports. Reason? The United States claimed that a member of the Mexican inspection team had threatened him and his family from organized crime in Michoacan for rejecting a particular shipment of avocados.

The conflict was resolved, but it revealed the problem behind this billion-dollar market, with organized crime extorting and threatening parties involved in the production and export of avocados in Michoacan.

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