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Jalisco becomes second authorized Mexican state to ship avocados to the U.S.

Jalisco, Mexico — The state of Jalisco is the second in the country approved to ship avocados to the United States. On Thursday, a shipment of 220 tons of Hass avocado were readied for an American shipment after 10 years of negotiations.

During a press conference, the Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, was part of the departure team that saw the 11 semi containers leave the state bound for the U.S. The shipment is part of a program that includes 608 orchards of 8,407 hectares in 10 municipalities.

The avocados have been certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and also by the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica), explained the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).

The Jalisco Agricultural and Agroindustrial Development Council celebrated the export. They reported that of 9,800 hectares of avocado in Jalisco, 8,407 were certified in the first stage. The rest will be harvested after October this year.

The Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, highlighted that the product is certified as “free of deforestation. You can grow in economic terms, but it doesn’t have to be by destroying the environment,” he added in a video broadcast on social networks.

The United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, celebrated the agreement and reiterated that there is “a great demand” for Mexican avocados in the United States. He said that in 2021, Mexico sent a “record number of avocados to the United States valued at $2.8 billion USD.”

“The avocado market in the United States exceeds 1.3 million tons with a per capita consumption of more than 3.6 kilos and continues to increase,” he added.

Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the avocado business generates more than 12,000 direct and 22,000 indirect jobs in the state of Jalisco.

He also said that 51 countries around the world consume the more than 2.3 million tons of avocados that Mexico produces each year. Until now, Michoacán was the only Mexican state authorized to ship avocados to the U.S.