Costa Rica used to import between 12,000 to 15,000 tons of avocados from Mexico – the world’s largest exporter and producer of this popular fruit. In May 2015, Costa Rica banned this Mexican delicacy due to the risk of Avocado Sunblotch Viroid (ASVB) disease. Trees infected with ASVB show no signs of the disease until the fruit is opened, and inferior quality is revealed. Infected trees have a 30% reduction in yield. Costa Rica took quick action against Mexican avocados, and began importing avocados from Chile, Peru, and Nicaragua, as well as other countries.
On Saturday, February 9th, the first container of Mexican Hass avocados entered Costa Rica legally once again. During the four-year dispute between Mexico and Costa Rica, smugglers had of course been having a field day bringing Hass fruits up thru Panama. These methods were not nearly enough to supply the Costa Rican appetite for good quality avocados. Prices went way up, almost doubled. Availability was way down. Smugglers were elated.
Commented Randall Benavides, President of the Chamber of Exporters and Importers of Perishables (CEIPP), “In this situation there has only been losers. Consumers are paying more for a lower quality product, restaurants recorded a 20% waste increase in the product they purchase for their dishes, and the treasury has stopped receiving revenues because much of the product sold on the street is smuggled.” It was a lose/lose avocado battle ending more than two decades of uninterrupted avocado trade between the two countries.
The word avocado derives from the Aztec word “ahuacatl”, meaning testicles, named for the shape of the fruit and its rumored aphrodisiac properties. Mexico felt Costa Rica was displaying some large ahuacatls banning their fruit, and presented their complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for adjudication. Costa Rica had placed an “Emergency Measure” against all countries with the presence of ASVB, sometimes known as “Sol’s Stain”, thereby blocking 1,000 Mexican avocados a month from entering. Avocados from Australia, Spain, Ghana, Guatemala, Israel, South Africa, Venezuela, and the US state of Florida were also banned.
Finally, on December 17, 2018, Costa Rica’s Minister of Agriculture met with Mexico’s Director of National Health Service, and they signed a compromise plan between the two countries, thereby ending the avocado wars. Costa Rica then invited the Mexican phytosanitary authorities to join the 2019 Prospection on Avocado Crops in Costa Rica. Phytosanitary measures ensure that food is safe for consumers, and will not spread diseases and pests among animals and plants.
Unfortunately, this conference had to be postponed due to complicated commercial issues, but the two countries have finally hammered out a deal, and Hass avocados are now returning to stores throughout the country, much to everyone’s delight.
The ban against Mexican avocados was always controversial, and many feel that consumers were deprived of good quality avocados for little or no reason. Said Jose Manuel Quirce, President of Crecex, Camara de Comercio Exterior CR, “The country has imported more than 40 thousand metric tons of avocado from Mexico for more than 20 years and there has never been contagion, so the odds that this would happen are practically nil.”
On Saturday, February 9th, the first container of Mexican Hass avocados entered Costa Rica legally once again. During the four-year dispute between Mexico and Costa Rica, smugglers had of course been having a field day bringing Hass fruits up thru Panama. These methods were not nearly enough to supply the Costa Rican appetite for good quality avocados. Prices went way up, almost doubled. Availability was way down. Smugglers were elated.
Commented Randall Benavides, President of the Chamber of Exporters and Importers of Perishables (CEIPP), “In this situation there has only been losers. Consumers are paying more for a lower quality product, restaurants recorded a 20% waste increase in the product they purchase for their dishes, and the treasury has stopped receiving revenues because much of the product sold on the street is smuggled.” It was a lose/lose avocado battle ending more than two decades of uninterrupted avocado trade between the two countries.
The word avocado derives from the Aztec word “ahuacatl”, meaning testicles, named for the shape of the fruit and its rumored aphrodisiac properties. Mexico felt Costa Rica was displaying some large ahuacatls banning their fruit, and presented their complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for adjudication. Costa Rica had placed an “Emergency Measure” against all countries with the presence of ASVB, sometimes known as “Sol’s Stain”, thereby blocking 1,000 Mexican avocados a month from entering. Avocados from Australia, Spain, Ghana, Guatemala, Israel, South Africa, Venezuela, and the US state of Florida were also banned.
Finally, on December 17, 2018, Costa Rica’s Minister of Agriculture met with Mexico’s Director of National Health Service, and they signed a compromise plan between the two countries, thereby ending the avocado wars. Costa Rica then invited the Mexican phytosanitary authorities to join the 2019 Prospection on Avocado Crops in Costa Rica. Phytosanitary measures ensure that food is safe for consumers, and will not spread diseases and pests among animals and plants.
Unfortunately, this conference had to be postponed due to complicated commercial issues, but the two countries have finally hammered out a deal, and Hass avocados are now returning to stores throughout the country, much to everyone’s delight.
The ban against Mexican avocados was always controversial, and many feel that consumers were deprived of good quality avocados for little or no reason. Said Jose Manuel Quirce, President of Crecex, Camara de Comercio Exterior CR, “The country has imported more than 40 thousand metric tons of avocado from Mexico for more than 20 years and there has never been contagion, so the odds that this would happen are practically nil.”
