After nearly 25 years of export bans, U.S. potato farmers could begin to distribute and sell more fresh potatoes across all of Mexico by early 2022. American potato farmers and exporters currently are barred from selling fresh potatoes in Mexico due to restrictions by the Mexican government, namely that U.S. growers can only sell them within about a 16-mile zone across the Mexican border, as Noi Mahoney reports for Freightwaves.com.
“It’s been kind of a 25-year-long trade issue between the U.S. and Mexico,” Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, told FreightWaves. “It took about the last 15 years for the U.S. and Mexico to negotiate between the two governments over issues like pests and disease, issues that Mexico was worried about.”
The National Potato Council, based in Washington, D.C., represents the interests of U.S. potato growers on federal legislative, regulatory, environmental and trade issues. Under the new agreement, U.S. exporters will be able to sell fresh potatoes across all of Mexico. As part of the agreement, fresh potatoes from the U.S. will be permitted through the following ports of entry into Mexico.
Under the agreement, Mexican authorities will approve two new ports of entry each year after the conclusion of the first year, with Laredo and Pharr becoming operational for fresh potato exports beyond the border region in 2023.
Source: Freightwaves.com. Read the full report and watch a movie clip here
Photo: Under the new agreement expected to begin early next year, U.S. exporters will be able to sell fresh potatoes across all of Mexico. (Photo: Shutterstock)
