After almost four years of conflict, the Government of Costa Rica and the Mexican authorities reached an agreement on the conflict that prevented the entry of Mexican avocados into the country.
According to the authorities of the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), the agreement of a technical nature was reached in December of last year but was only made public on February 12.
The technical agreement includes the participation of representatives of the Senasica in the sampling, which will be validated by both countries and will be observed by the IICA and OIRSA. Once the process is over and the product is deemed free of the disease, the phytosanitary measures of Costa Rica would prevail and Mexico could reactivate trade.
Otherwise, Costa Rica would accept the Mexican avocado as long as it has a phytosanitary certificate indicating that it is a symptom-free shipment, according to Fernando Araya, director of the SFE.
Costa Rica imported Mexican avocados for the last time in June 2015. In the months prior to the closure, the country received more than 1,000 tons of avocado per month from Mexico, according to Procomer data.
Costa Rica restricted imports of avocado from countries where the sunblotch viroid was present to protect itself against it, this included closing the border to Mexican fruit. In addition, authorities banned the entry of avocados from Australia, Spain, Ghana, Guatemala, Israel, South Africa, Venezuela, the state of Florida in the United States, and any other country in which there was sunblotch.
On December 17, the Minister of Agriculture, Renato Alvarado, met with Francisco Javier Trujillo, the current Director of Mexico's National Agricultural Food Health, Safety and Quality Service (Senasica). Then they signed a compromise plan between the countries.
Following the agreement, Costa Rica invited the Mexican phytosanitary authorities to participate in the 2019 Prospection on avocado crops in Costa Rica. The start of this activity was projected for January 19, however it was postponed to address commercial issues.
The Costa Rican Phytosanitary System is scheduled to begin the verification of the phytosanitary status in avocado at the national level in the last week of February.
The Mexican avocado in national soil would fill part of the high national demand for fruit, which in recent years resulted in high prices.
