MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The U.S. government temporarily suspended avocado imports from Mexico’s top-producing Michoacan state beginning last Saturday due to a security incident involving U.S. inspectors, according to a report by Mexican newspaper El Universal published on Monday.
The report, citing unnamed avocado exporters, said the duration of the suspension has not been determined as talks between U.S. agriculture officials and local producers are ongoing.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In 2022, U.S. officials temporarily suspended avocado shipments from Michoacan, a state that has suffered longstanding problems with gang violence, also citing security problems faced by inspectors.
(Reporting by Christian Plumb and Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Eisenhammer)
