o weeks after protests took place against the opening of the Mexican border to lemon imports, Mexican producers, led by Sergio Ramírez Castañeda, managed to reach their first agreement with the federal government: lemon import tariffs will return in October.It was also agreed to establish more rigorous monitoring to analyse the behaviour of the product's prices in the country to prevent speculation, unfair competition by intermediaries and abusive practices against producers and final consumers.
The national and State president of the Mexican "Sistema Producto Limón", Sergio Ramírez Castañeda, pointed out that while the opening of the border does not affect producers directly, it does not benefit them either, because Mexico is a self-sufficient citrus producer.
Ramírez Castañeda stressed that the reintroduction of the tariffs cannot be enforced until October due to the commitments that Mexico has with potential exporters.
The leader of the country's lemon producers pointed out that since the opening of the Mexican border, no fruit from other nations appears to have entered. Not even Peruvian fruit, which was exempt of tariffs, as distribution costs made it not profitable enough.
Mexico's main producing states are Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero and Oaxaca, where two years ago the harvest had to be limited to three times per week to avoid oversaturating the market. The current price growers receive stands at 2.5 pesos per kilo, while consumer prices range from 8 up to 18 pesos.
Ramírez Castañeda clarified that this price behaviour is not down to the producers, "but to retailers. They are the ones who should be inspected and monitored, as they increase prices by up to 400%."
Mexico's lemon consumption per capita is quite high, of up to 17 kilos per year. Around 2,500 tonnes are distributed every day and the annual production stands at approximately 2.5 million tonnes.
Michoacán contributes with 50% of this annual production; around 800,000 tonnes on average, of which 500,000 are intended for fresh consumption and 300,000 for the manufacture of dried peel and essential oil.
There is an established acreage of 80,000 hectares counting lemon, grapefruit and lime plantations.
