Opportunity for California avocados in now-opened Mexican market
Opportunity for California avocados in now-opened Mexican market
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service announced Sept. 30 that Mexican government officials had signed an agreement to allow the importation of Hass avocados from California under certain conditions.
California shippers are pleased that the Mexican market has finally opened to their product, but they anticipate limited opportunities for shipping fruit to Mexico for economic reasons. Only if short supplies in Mexico coincide with abundant supplies and low prices in California is much fruit likely to move southward across the border, and then mainly to nearby population centers such as Tijuana, which are much closer to Californias avocado groves than to those in Mexico.
Under a protocol negotiated by APHIS, "Mexico will import Hass avocados from certain counties in California with packinghouses registered to export under the conditions of this agreement," stated an APHIS press release.
The agreement, which was effective immediately, allows California avocados to be distributed in all but five Mexican states, those being the avocado-producing states of Michoacan, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla and Nayarit. After 12 months, if an evaluation of the program proves satisfactory, California Hass may then be distributed to all Mexican states.
The California avocado industry has been working for nine years to try to gain access to the Mexican market for its products, and APHIS has been actively involved in the effort since 1999.
It has been slow going, said Tom Bellamore, senior vice president and corporate counsel for the California Avocado Commission.
Mexico only recently gained access for its Hass avocados in U.S. markets. Until this year, that access was limited to only 39 states and only from Oct. 15 to April 15. Currently, Mexican Hass may be distributed in every state except California, Florida and Hawaii, but after two years, those avocados will be allowed in all 50 states.
Even though the two are separate issues, said Mr. Bellamore, obviously there is some political connection between the two, and that probably accounts for the slow response on the part of the Mexican government.
Phytosanitary issues were involved in both cases. When a notice was published last November in the Federal Register regarding expanded access to U.S. markets for Mexican Hass, the negotiations regarding exporting California Hass into Mexico began to make some progress, he said. The effort culminated with the signing of a work plan on Sept. 14, he said.
That work plan provides for shipment of California avocados under certain conditions and certainly affords the industry here an opportunity to ship to Mexico, Mr. Bellamore said.
The question is, will they act on that opportunity? How big is that opportunity? asked Mr. Bellamore, who said that a signed agreement is no guarantee that any fruit will move into Mexico. We believe the market opportunity that might exist in Mexico is at best a seasonal one, and it may just be an occasional opening of a market window based on market conditions in both countries.
Mr. Bellamore estimated that the potential dollar value of Hass exports to Mexico may be in the range of $5 million to $24 million.
Steve Taft of Eco Farms Avocados Inc. in Temecula, CA, said, I think [shipping to Mexico] is going to be probably not of much interest.
It will only work when we have really low prices and they have a scarcity of fruit in Mexico, Mr. Taft said. I think those combinations are not going to be that common, so I dont think it is going to be anything big. Even then, exports would likely be only during the May to July time period and primarily to nearby border towns because of the freight, he said.
To have [access to the Mexican market] is better than not to have it, he added.
We just got the work plan, and it appears that all the hurdles youve got to get through to pack and ship there & may be pretty onerous, Mr. Taft said.
Its too early to tell [what the opportunities may be], said Rob Wedin of Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA. I dont think it is a dramatic change, but I think there is an opportunity that will come into play from time to time when California has good-sized crops and Mexico gets a little short as could happen in late spring and summer. This coming year could be one of those, because we are going to have a big crop, he said.
I think the opportunity is along the border and in Baja, he added.
I dont really think there is going to be a lot of opportunity, but we are glad that it happened, said Bob Lucy of Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc. in Fallbrook, CA, who does not expect to ship any avocados into Mexico until at least April 1, and even then doesnt think that there will be a heck of a lot that will go in there. The work plan looks like it is going to be pretty difficult, but it is a start, he said. Were trying to figure out how tough the hurdles are.
California shippers are pleased that the Mexican market has finally opened to their product, but they anticipate limited opportunities for shipping fruit to Mexico for economic reasons. Only if short supplies in Mexico coincide with abundant supplies and low prices in California is much fruit likely to move southward across the border, and then mainly to nearby population centers such as Tijuana, which are much closer to Californias avocado groves than to those in Mexico.
Under a protocol negotiated by APHIS, "Mexico will import Hass avocados from certain counties in California with packinghouses registered to export under the conditions of this agreement," stated an APHIS press release.
The agreement, which was effective immediately, allows California avocados to be distributed in all but five Mexican states, those being the avocado-producing states of Michoacan, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla and Nayarit. After 12 months, if an evaluation of the program proves satisfactory, California Hass may then be distributed to all Mexican states.
The California avocado industry has been working for nine years to try to gain access to the Mexican market for its products, and APHIS has been actively involved in the effort since 1999.
It has been slow going, said Tom Bellamore, senior vice president and corporate counsel for the California Avocado Commission.
Mexico only recently gained access for its Hass avocados in U.S. markets. Until this year, that access was limited to only 39 states and only from Oct. 15 to April 15. Currently, Mexican Hass may be distributed in every state except California, Florida and Hawaii, but after two years, those avocados will be allowed in all 50 states.
Even though the two are separate issues, said Mr. Bellamore, obviously there is some political connection between the two, and that probably accounts for the slow response on the part of the Mexican government.
Phytosanitary issues were involved in both cases. When a notice was published last November in the Federal Register regarding expanded access to U.S. markets for Mexican Hass, the negotiations regarding exporting California Hass into Mexico began to make some progress, he said. The effort culminated with the signing of a work plan on Sept. 14, he said.
That work plan provides for shipment of California avocados under certain conditions and certainly affords the industry here an opportunity to ship to Mexico, Mr. Bellamore said.
The question is, will they act on that opportunity? How big is that opportunity? asked Mr. Bellamore, who said that a signed agreement is no guarantee that any fruit will move into Mexico. We believe the market opportunity that might exist in Mexico is at best a seasonal one, and it may just be an occasional opening of a market window based on market conditions in both countries.
Mr. Bellamore estimated that the potential dollar value of Hass exports to Mexico may be in the range of $5 million to $24 million.
Steve Taft of Eco Farms Avocados Inc. in Temecula, CA, said, I think [shipping to Mexico] is going to be probably not of much interest.
It will only work when we have really low prices and they have a scarcity of fruit in Mexico, Mr. Taft said. I think those combinations are not going to be that common, so I dont think it is going to be anything big. Even then, exports would likely be only during the May to July time period and primarily to nearby border towns because of the freight, he said.
To have [access to the Mexican market] is better than not to have it, he added.
We just got the work plan, and it appears that all the hurdles youve got to get through to pack and ship there & may be pretty onerous, Mr. Taft said.
Its too early to tell [what the opportunities may be], said Rob Wedin of Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula, CA. I dont think it is a dramatic change, but I think there is an opportunity that will come into play from time to time when California has good-sized crops and Mexico gets a little short as could happen in late spring and summer. This coming year could be one of those, because we are going to have a big crop, he said.
I think the opportunity is along the border and in Baja, he added.
I dont really think there is going to be a lot of opportunity, but we are glad that it happened, said Bob Lucy of Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc. in Fallbrook, CA, who does not expect to ship any avocados into Mexico until at least April 1, and even then doesnt think that there will be a heck of a lot that will go in there. The work plan looks like it is going to be pretty difficult, but it is a start, he said. Were trying to figure out how tough the hurdles are.
