Canada's Ambassador to Mexico Guillermo Rishchynsky has told Aztecanoticias.com.mx trade between the two countries stood at US$30 billion in 2010, with that figure expected to increase 25% this year.

He highlighted the strong contribution of Michoacan avocado sales to Canada, while Mexico imported high volumes of maple syrup and salmon, the story reported.

Trade figures show Mexico exports US$23 billion worth of goods and services to Canada while it imports US$7 billion.

The ambassador told the website the two countries exchanged 120 different products annually ranging from agricultural goods to car parts to technology, so there was no need to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Meanwhile, a workers union leader has urged Mexico's Federal Government to halt the use of child labor in agriculture, with estimates of three million people aged under 14 working on farms around the country, reported El Sol de Mexico.

General Workers Union national executive committee collegiate general secretary Luis Gómez Garay, said the government had not shown political will to improve life in rural areas, the story reported.

He said the government needed to do more to establish national agricultural mechanization programmes for producers, as around 42% of Mexican businesses that employed child labor were in the agricultural sector.

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com