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By KELIN DILLON

On Sunday, June 23, the United States Embassy in Mexico and the Government of Michoacán agreed on a new plan to protect inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) during their inspections of avocado and mango crops grown in the western Mexican state.

The news comes just one week after the United States suspended its inspections and new imports of Michoacán avocados and mangos following the illegal detention of APHIS inspectors by organized crime groups the previous weekend.

According to U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, the two nations agreed on a course of action that identifies potential risks to inspectors and issues a coordinated response plan to said scenarios ahead of time.

“The plan of the government of Mexico, working hand in hand with us, is to ensure that each of the employees has security so that they can do their job as they have done for many years,” said Salazar.

“The second thing is to be in very efficient contact between the U.S. Embassy and the federal government, but also with the Michoacán governor so that if a risk is seen coming, that it can be addressed before it causes another pause in exports of avocado,” continued the ambassador.  “The third thing is also to have emergency plans so if something like this happens, we know what we will do.”

For his part, Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Víctor Manuel Villalobos announced the possibility of replacing APHIS inspectors with national inspectors from Mexico in “the near future” to prevent another pause of avocado exports to the United States.

Meanwhile, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) commended the U.S. for lifting its suspension of Michoacán avocados during his daily morning press conference on Monday, June 24, though condemned the United States for acting “unilaterally” for issuing a suspension in the first place.