Jalisco, Mexico The minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) of Mexico, José Calzada, said Jalisco would be able to export Hass avocado to the US market this year.

Calzada Rovirosa addressed the issue during a meeting last week with the US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and stated that US authorities are working with Mexican authorities to certify Jalisco producers.

"According to the rule, the approval is not given to a region but to particular orchards, so the US authorities are working with Mexican authorities to certify these orchards. I think this will be ready in a matter of days. I think Jalisco will start exporting avocados to the US this year," Calzada said.

Mexico exported nearly $22 billion USD in farm and processed products to the US in 2015, nearly 2 billion of which were avocado exports, the fourth most important product after beer, tomatoes and peppers. Just for the Super Bowl, avocado sales amounted to $200 million dollars.

"Mexico's avocado is the king of success stories. It is a symbol of quality, of tenacity, of good practices," said Calzada Rovirosa.

For the moment the United States only allows imports of Hass avocados from the state of Michoacan, through an inspection approach designed to mitigate the possibility of pests such as the Mediterranean fruit fly.

Under the current scheme, the Mexican producers of fruit must be certified, have tracking labels, perform sampling, sanitary, and safeguard measures in the process of storage, cutting and inspection. To expand the market to other Mexican states, the USDA said it would require the Mexican avocado to be imported through commercial shipments and to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the authorities of Mexico, which confirms that the fruit was grown and handled under the operational plan authorized.

After the orchards are officially certified, producers will be able to start exporting avocados to all the states of the American Union.

According to Calzada Rovirosa, after they achieve the entry of avocados from Jalisco, Mexico will continue to work to open the US market to avocados from other Mexican states, such as the State of Mexico, among others.

"That will allow us to increase our production capacity and exports. The world produces 2 million tons of avocado, and Mexico produces 1.3 million tons of them," he remarked.