Almost three years after the beginning of the restriction of avocado imports from Mexico, citing supposed phytosanitary issues, the Solis administration is now promoting exports of Costa Rican varieties of the fruit, while the local market suffers from shortages.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock announced with great fanfare that it has started an advice giving program to a group of Hass avocado producers in Tarrazú, so that they can start to export the fruit to European countries.
Hass avocados from Mexico can be imported in containers, provided that they come certified as fruit containers that are free from the sunspot disease or from areas certified as free.
The proposal put forward by the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) to the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures at the WTO, where the conflict between Costa Rica and Mexico is being resolved, establishes that the fruit may be imported in any of three circumstances: the fruit is sent with a certificate that guarantees that it does not have sunspot, with a certificate that comes from areas free of the disease, or where there is compliance with rules agreed bilaterally by the two countries.
Employers indicate that taking the dispute to an arbitration panel will cost many millions of dollars and will result in indemnization payments, as it is clear that trade agreements and phytosanitary standards were breached.
The announcement by the Mexican authorities to take Costa Rica to a World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitration panel because of the dispute over avocados, has caused concern among employers who are members of the Chamber of Exporters and Importers of Perishable Goods (Ceipp).