Avocados for sale at a market in Mexico City on Feb. 15. Photo: Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. resumed avocado imports from Mexico after suspending them last week after a U.S. inspector in Mexico was threatened, the Department of Agriculture announced Friday.
Why it matters: Drug cartels regularly extort avocado growers in the state of Michoacan, where the inspection and threat occurred, though almost 80% of the avocados grown there went to U.S. markets in 2020 and 2021.
What they're saying: "The safety of USDA employees simply doing their jobs is of paramount importance," the department said.
- It added that Mexican organizations implemented new measures to increase safety for U.S. inspectors working in the field.
The big picture: More than 90% of the U.S.' avocado imports came from Mexico in 2021, or roughly 1.1 million metric tons worth $2.8 billion.
- Michoacan is the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export avocados to the U.S., so the temporary suspension effectively amounted to a pause on all imports of Mexican avocados.
Go deeper: U.S. embassy in Mexico "dismayed" over deadly attacks against journalists