Mexico publishes U.S. potato import requirement document
For the past 20 years, U.S., fresh potato exports to Mexico have been limited to the region within 26 kilometers of the U.S. border.
That reality could be about to change in the months ahead.
Mexico’s National Service for Agricultural Health, Food Safety, and AgriQuality (SENASICA) on Nov. 6 published the phytosanitary Requirement Sheet for U.S. potato imports to the entirety of Mexico.
The requirements include:
- Shipments must comply with the “Operational Work Plan for Export of Fresh Potatoes for Consumption or Processing from the United States to Mexico;”
- Have a Phytosanitary Certificate issued by officials authorized by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that the shipment was found free from regulated pests in the work plan;
- Potatoes must be brushed, washed, sorted and free of soil;
- Fresh potatoes must be packed for export to Mexico in packages of 20 pounds (9.09 kg) or less, identified with traceability data; and
- Shipments must be sealed at the inspection point.
In a note about the Mexican Nov. 6 document, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the document does not allow for immediate importation of U.S. potatoes to the entirety of Mexico.
Long road
The U.S. has been seeking full access to the Mexican market for more than 25 years, said Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, who said he is “cautiously optimistic” about progress in that quest with the latest news from Mexico.
“Seeing some forward momentum is definitely a good sign, Quarles said. “The ideal of the USMCA and NAFTA before it was that you would have this one unified trading bloc, and this is one of those key pieces to really validate that all the countries are going to adhere to their commitments.”
Quarles said the publication of the requirements sheet by Mexico is a “piece in the puzzle” to realize full access to the Mexican market. One essential element to full access will be an operational work plan that both countries agree on; another would be getting U.S. facilities registered to export to Mexico.
“There are several other steps that need to take place in order to formalize that, and I think it’s anybody’s guess as to how long that’s going to take,” he said.
The USDA reports U.S. fresh potato exports to Mexico from October 2020 through September 2021 totaled $56 million, up 2% from the previous year and 47% higher than five years ago.
Full access to the Mexican market could lift total U.S. fresh potato export sales by $150 million per year Quarles said, which would translate to a 10% to 15% increase in total U.S. fresh potato export opportunities.
“You have a lot of (Mexican) restaurants, steak houses and those kinds of (outlets) that would very much like access to U.S. potatoes, not to mention all the consumer opportunities at retail,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative have been pushing their Mexican counterparts very hard on the fresh potato access issue, Quarles said.
“It’s been seven months since the Supreme Court ruled, so I think people were hopeful it was going to go more quickly, (but) having the (requirement) sheet out there and posted a necessary step.”
