The Ministry of Agriculture ordered the measure due to an increase of the pest in Guatemalan forests, in order to have more resources to combat it.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) in Guatemala declared a state of sanitary emergency due to a significant increase in pine weevils in the country, and the threat posed by the scourge of this species in the coniferous forests of Honduras, reported Prensalibre.com.
The irreconcilable positions of both countries over phytosanitary measures for the Mexican product form the backdrop to a possible arbitration panel with the world trade body.
Since Costa Rica stopped issuing permits for the entry of Hass avocados from Mexico, for phytosanitary protectionism reasons, (the country argues they are protecting themselves from the disease known as sunspot), neither country has managed to convince the other through technical and political methods to reopen the market.
This year 18 different species of citrus fruit came into the country from Uruguay among them oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit and different hybrids for fresh consumption.
From a statement issued by the State Phytosanitary Service in Costa Rica:
The State Phytosanitary Service (SFE), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), conducted a Risk Analysis for Pests (ARP by its initials in Spanish) for opening the market to citrus fruits from Uruguay and will soon finalize the corresponding notifications to allow import of a variety of these fruits into the country.
The country has been criticized for violating trade agreements and placing phytosanitary barriers on trade using political-ideological and non-technical justifications.
EDITORIAL
Having entrusted the management of the Ministries of Economy and Commerce and Agriculture and Livestock -and linked institutions - to a group of officials who believe in their own last century protectionist model - and going against openness to the world practiced by the country in the last 20 years, and who were also openly opposing the Central American Free trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, the Solis administration has made sure that there will be recurrent conflicts related in trade of agro-industrial products to the Northern nation, Costa Rica's main trading partner.
Mexican health authorities have changed the random inspection process for one which includes inspection of every container of Costa Rican fishery product attempting to enter the territory.
The new sanitation checks began in July, and involve an individual process for each of the containers of fish products attempting to enter Mexico.
Producers claim that a new phytosanitary requirement imposed by Mexican authorities on shrimp imports constitutes a non-tariff barrier.
Mexican authorities are now requiring that each shipment of shrimp entering the country from Guatemala carry a phytosanitary certificate of laboratory analysis, which takes 72 hours to be issued, affecting the lifespan of the product.
Establishing areas free of the sunblotch pest and certify them according to international standards is what Mexico has proposed in order to sell avocados to Costa Rica once again.
The proposal submitted by Mexico to the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica and the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE) includes the establishment of certain areas of fruit cultivation which are certified to be free of the pest.
The ban on importing the fruit from Mexico and other countries has increased the purchases in Nicaragua, where in six months the amount imported was the equivalent to the imports of 2014.
While the restrictions imposed by the State Phytosanitary Service of Costa Rica have affected Mexican and Guatemalan exporters , Nicaraguans have benefited, and avocado sales could continue to grow if the measure is extended.
Arguing the presence of disease in the product, the farmers of Sinaloa, Sonora, Nayarit and Michoacan are asking the government to prevent the entry of Honduran shrimp.
If the Mexican government approves the blockade, Honduran producers estimate that 15 million pounds of shrimp will be left without access to the Mexican market.
Jacobo Paz, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), told Laprensa.hn that "...
Citing sanitary controls, the entry of imported potatoes and onions into production areas has been banned.
From the Resolution by the Ministry of Agricultural Development:
FIRST: To prohibit the entry or transfer of imported onions and potato for human consumption, to the areas, places and sites of agricultural production of potatoes and onions in the country.
Guatemala and Mexico have joined forces in their complaints to the WTO over restrictions on the importation of Hass Avocados.
The concerns of these two countries were presented at the monthly meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization, where Guatemala and Mexico also expressed concern about the trade impact of the measure imposed by Costa Rica.
The country will present itself before the WTO to establish that the import of avocados will be subject to certification showing its precedence from zones free of Sun-Bloch.
The request will be made by Costa Rica through the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures meets this week. As part of that committee, Mexico and Guatemala had announced that they would initiate a mechanism of "commercial concern " over the restrictions imposed on entry of the fruit into Costa Rica.
A "national scientific table" will analyze the reasons for the restriction on imports of the fruit from Mexico and seek alternatives to reactivate the purchases.
The objective of the analysis is to verify the existence of scientific foundations in the decision of the Phytosanitary Service of Costa Rica to ban the import of the fruit from several countries.
Guatemala and Mexico have triggered a mechanism of "commercial concern" over restrictions on the importation of Hass avocado imposed by Costa Rica.
There will be a period of 60 days for Costa Rica to respond to the concerns presented by the delegations from Mexico and Guatemala in the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures at the World Trade Organization.
An announcement has been made that in the coming days a delegation from the phytosanitary authority of Mexico will arrive in San Jose to discuss the ban on entry of Mexican avocados.