(Bloomberg) — A new Mexican certification program will help ensure that avocado exports to the US are not cultivated on deforested areas or illegal operations, the US ambassador to Mexico said on Friday.
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Ambassador Ken Salazar said a program launched by avocado producing state Michoacan in late August would cover more than 148,000 hectares (366,000 acres). “We hope to see a rigorous implementation of this program,” he said in the border city of Ciudad Juarez on Friday, according to a statement.
US demand for most of Mexico’s $3 billion avocado exports a year may have driven over 40,000 acres of deforestation in the country over the past decade, according to a report published in August.
Drug gangs are accused of allegedly controlling and taxing production of the fruit across the state of Michoacan, one of the country’s most dangerous. Earlier this year, exports of avocados from the state were halted temporarily after two American agricultural inspectors were held against their will amid a protest over police pay.
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