MEXICO CITY ( AP ) — Two employees of the United States Agriculture Department were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in the Mexican state of Michoacan, prompting the U. S. government , to suspend inspections of avocado and mango shipments, the U. S. ambassador to Mexico said Tuesday.
The assault took place while the people were inspecting avocados in Michoacan, according to Ambassador Ken Salazar’s speech. He claimed that they were no more being held.
According to safety sources, U.S. authorities had confirmed the delay in checks on Monday.
The employees work for the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ( APHIS ). Because the United States also grows avocados, U. S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados do n’t carry diseases that could hurt U. S. crops.
APHIS has suspended the olive and fruit inspections in Michoacan until these security issues have been resolved, according to Salazar.
Michoacan is Mexico’s biggest producer of bananas.
Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ramrez Bedolla disclosed to Mexico’s Radio Formula on Tuesday that the investigators had been escorted out of Aranza, northern Michigan, on June 14 as a protest by residents of the state on June 14. He downplayed the position, suggesting they were never at risk. He claimed that position forces were escorting the state’s olive producers and packers after he spoke with the U.S. embassy the following day.
” I hope we have good information in the coming time”, he said, referring to a prospective resumption of checks.
Checks in different Mexican state are never affected, Salazar said.
The Mexican Producers and Packers Association announced in a speech on Tuesday that it was working carefully with Mexican government officials and the US to continue the export of avocados from Michoacan.
It stated that the incident that led to the expulsion was “unrelated to the guacamole business.”
Many Michoacan avocado growers claim drug gangs abduct or kill them or their relatives without paying security money, maybe thousands of dollars per acre.
Additionally, there have been reports of organized crime attempting to trade bananas grown in other states through U.S. inspections.
In February 2022, the U. S. government , suspended inspections of Hispanic avocados , “until more see” after a U. S. plant health investigator in Michoacan received a menacing information. After about a month, the end was lifted.
Later that month, Jalisco became , the next Hispanic position authorized to import bananas to the U. S.
Because Jalisco is now an exporter and there are many Michoacan avocados already in transit, the new pause in inspections wo n’t prevent shipments of Mexican avocados to the United States.
Salazar promised to travel to Michoacan the following year to meet with Bedolla and the suppliers and packers organization.
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