The U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended inspections of avocados and mangoes imported from Mexico “until further notice” due to security concerns for agency workers, the agency said Monday.
Produce already licensed for export is not affected by the decision, but if inspections are not resumed, the supply of avocados in the United States, primarily from Mexico’s Michoacán state, could eventually be affected.
“The investigation will be paused until the security situation is reviewed and protocols and safeguards are in place,” a USDA spokesperson said in an email.
The agency did not say what led to the security concerns. However, Mexican media outlets recently reported that two USDA inspectors were illegally detained at a checkpoint run by community members. In Michoacán, which stretches from the mountains west of Mexico City to the Pacific Ocean, some indigenous communities have set up security patrols to defend themselves against criminal groups.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico confirmed Monday that the investigators were no longer in custody.
“The suspension of avocado exports from Michoacán is due to an accident unrelated to the avocado industry,” Julio Sahagún Calderón, president of the Association of Avocado Producers and Packers of Mexico (APEAM), said in a statement. He added that the group was working “intensively” with Mexican and U.S. authorities to resume avocado testing in Michoacán.
This is not the first time U.S. safety investigators have faced security threats in Michoacán, where a brutal turf war between drug cartels is in full swing.
In 2022, the United States decided to temporarily block imports of avocados from Mexico after verbal threats were made to safety inspectors. The ban was lifted days after Mexico enacted more safety measures for USDA inspectors.
In addition to fighting over the drug trade, cartels have been trying to make inroads into the legal economy, particularly the lucrative avocado industry, fueled by America’s voracious appetite for the creamy fruit.
Orchards that produce avocados for export to the U.S. and the farms that process them must be certified by both Mexican authorities and USDA inspectors.
A USDA spokeswoman said the agency was doing its best to resume testing “as quickly as possible.” “Avocados and mangoes in transit are not affected by the suspension as they have already gone through the inspection process,” he said.
The popularity and profitability of avocados has created environmental problems in Mexico, with avocado orchards suddenly popping up in protected areas inaccessible to farmers and loggers alike. This has resulted in the loss of forests and depletion of aquifers.
As of March 2023, the United States and Mexico had certified more than 50,000 avocado orchards in Michoacan for export, according to a report last year by Climate Rights International, a nonprofit that documents the human rights impacts of climate change.
