Mexico: Judge orders SAGARPA to block U.S. fresh potato imports
A diplomatic issue Mexican avocado growers believed was behind entry delays for Jalisco fruit has just taken a turn for the worse.
A Federal Judge from the Mexican state of Sinaloa made a judgment on Friday (August 4) deeming the systems approach for U.S. fresh potato imports "lax" and "lacking scientific basis".
As a result of this determination, José Francisco Pérez Mier ordered the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) to not allow imports of fresh potatoes from the northern neighbor.
Pérez Mier declared the imports would pose a latent risk to Mexico's biodiversity with the potential to cause outbreaks of 63 different quarantine pests that would be to the detriment of Mexican agriculture.
The decision was made in response to an appeal from growers in the northern part of Sinaloa who claimed the imports would be a risk to fields of potatoes, chile peppers, tomatoes, onions, eggplant and corn.
The growers argued that while the pests were not a threat in cold climates like the main potato-growing areas of the U.S., they could have more aggressive development in a warmer climate like Sinaloa.
Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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