If the North American agricultural market were more open, Mexican products, such as fruit and vegetables, would have a greater opportunity window, said the head of the Sagarpa, Enrique Martinez.
During the first Global Agribusiness Outlook Forum, the official agreed with his counterparts in the U.S. and Canada on the need to break down barriers, adapt rules and streamline processes in the flow and trade of food products, as this sector was generating jobs, exchange and development.
The secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, highlighted the importance of the three countries working together to be sustainably more productive.
In turn, Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Gerry Ritz, said that these products' business represented a central axis in the economic development of the three countries, so it was transcendental that they had a constructive dialogue and defined global strategies.
Martinez and Martinez took the opportunity to emphasize that Mexico had reduced its deficit in the agro-food and fisheries trade balance by 2,000 million between 2012 and 2013 and that the country had recorded a 71 million dollars surplus in the first quarter of 2014.
However, he added, Mexico's challenge is to level production with the countries of the north because Canada and the U.S. made between 57,000 and 59,000 million in agriculture while Mexico only reached 3,000 million dollars.
