The main exporter of avocados to the United States is Mexico’s Michoacan state.
The problem is, Michoacan is a state with a lot of drug cartel activity, including cartel involvement in the avocado business.
On August 5th, the U.S. announced a cessation of activities in the state, which would include the mandatory U.S. inspections in order to export the avocados.
According to Mexico News Daily, “The embassy statement announcing the suspension did not reveal the nature of the threat, but President Sheinbaum has since said that the suspension followed a meeting at the U.S. embassy related to threats against some of the inspectors hired by the United States to monitor sanitary quality. A meeting scheduled for the following day with an organization of avocado producers revealed that there had been an increase in extortion cases in certain regions of Michoacán.”
This threat to Michoacan’s export crop brought rapid measures. Both the federal Mexican government and Michoacan’s state government moved quickly to improve security in the state.
On August 7th, a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced a partial restart of activities in the Mexican state of Michoacan. [See here].
An August 10th Mexico News Daily article was entitled Most avocado exports to the US have resumed after last week’s suspension. That article said that “Approximately 75% of avocado packing facilities in Mexico’s Michoacán state have been cleared for export following a pause in the avocado trade with the United States over security concerns, Julio Berdegué, Mexico’s advisor for international agri-food affairs and strategic issues under the USMCA, announced on Saturday [August 8th]. The re-approved facilities handle roughly 85% of Michoacán’s avocado exports and the rest will be restored soon, according to Berdegué.”
And, “Exports resumed from the municipalities of Tancítaro, Tacámbaro and Uruapan, as well as the area between Morelia and Pátzcuaro, on Saturday.”
To be clear, it would take a stoppage of over 10 days to really stop the state’s exports to the U.S.
From freshplaza.com: ” ‘The pause didn’t last that long. From what I understand, they’re back to work now,’ says Gary Clevenger of Freska Produce International. ‘There was too much inventory in the pipeline that it really wouldn’t affect things unless it lasted longer than seven to 10 days. Then you probably would have seen supply get tighter and prices go up but we’re not really seeing that.’ “
According to Mexico News Daily, “To prevent future security issues, the Mexican government has established a permanent working group to monitor security in the region and prevent extortion of producers.”