MEXICO CITY — U.S. government inspections of avocados and mangoes in the Mexican state of Michoacan will gradually resume, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar announced Friday, a week after they were suspended over an assault on inspectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Agriculture Department inspectors \u201cwill gradually begin to return to the packing plants following recent aggression against them,\u201d Salazar said in a statement. \u201cHowever, it is still necessary to advance in guaranteeing their security before reaching full operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn fact, more work still needs to be done so that the (agriculture) inspectors are safe and can resume inspections and thereby eliminate the impediments to the trade of avocado and mango to the United States from Michoacan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last weekend, two USDA employees were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in Michoacan, Salazar said earlier this week. That led the U.S. to suspend inspections in Mexico\u2019s biggest avocado-producing state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The employees work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don\u2019t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this week, Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ram\u00edrez Bedolla said the inspectors had been stopped in a protest by residents of Aranza in western Michoacan on June 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He downplayed the situation, suggesting the inspectors were never at risk. He said that he got in touch with the U.S. Embassy the following day and that state forces were providing security for the state\u2019s avocado producers and packers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have also been reports of organized crime bringing avocados grown in other states not approved for export and trying to get them through U.S. inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February 2022, the U.S. government suspended inspections of Mexican avocados<\/a> \u201cuntil further notice\u201d after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Michoacan received a threatening message. The halt was lifted after about a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n