April 2022 - 18

Mexico export situation
hits another snag
Insistence of doing in-season
inspections before shipments
start means delays
By Zeke Jennings
EDITOR
N
ew developments are once again delaying full fresh
access to Mexico for U.S. potato growers and shippers
in the latest turn in the long saga.
U.S. National Potato Council (NPC) CEO Kam Quarles
was informed during a USDA webinar that Mexican officials
want to do additional visits to U.S. fields during the growing
season for inspections. In December, Mexican officials
visited Colorado to inspect potatoes. Quarles and potato
industry trade consultant Matt Lantz of Bryant Christie
said during Potato Expo in early January that the officials
said their inspection was satisfactory and they were ready to
proceed with the registration and shipping process.
Quarles reiterated Feb. 17 that was the agreement and
additional visits were not part of the work plan.
" Recall that after the Colorado site visit in December
2021, the Mexican officials declared that this was the last
step in the process and that January or February would be
the timing for full market access, " Quarles said through a
statement.
Since the visits are to take place during the growing
season, that means shipments of fresh potatoes throughout
Mexico will be delayed until fall, at the earliest.
Quarles said there is a provision in the agreement that
on-site audits are permissible once the program begins.
That provision is the root of the delay.
" The work plan does have a provision for 'auditing'
the process with site visits, " Quarles said. " However,
the Mexicans are reinterpreting that provision to be a
precursor to shipments, rather than an audit to determine
compliance with a program in operation. "
On the processing side, there also is a hangup. Mexican
officials are now limiting the number of registrations
available to just two for the coming year for " compliance "
reasons. Quarles said that was not part of the agreed-upon
work plan.
" I am unaware of any provision in the work plan that
would allow for intentionally constraining market access
via the registration process, " he said.
Estimates have full fresh access to Mexico at a value
of $150 million annually for the U.S. potato industry.
16
Spudman.com
National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles at the Idaho Potato
Conference in January 2022. Photo: Bill Schaefer Photogrpahy
Currently, U.S.-grown tablestock potatoes can only be sold
within 26 kilometers of the border.
American growers' quest to get their tablestock potatoes
throughout Mexico dates back more than two decades.
The saga includes multiple administrations for both
countries, trade negotiations, lawsuits and subsequent
appeals that have reached the Mexican Supreme Court.
" Let me put it this way, " Lantz said during Potato Expo,
" the first time I dealt with this situation, 'Shrek' was the
movie on the flight home. " Added Quarles: " If it were a
person, it could buy alcohol. "
April 2021, five Mexican Supreme Court judges ruled
unanimously to overturn a lower court's ruling that
fresh potatoes from the U.S. could only be sold near the
border. The organization bringing the original lawsuit,
CONPAPA - a collection of Mexican potato producers
- argued that U.S. potatoes posed a risk to their
production in the form of potential pests or diseases.
After the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent
inspection of U.S. potatoes in Colorado in December, the
NPC felt shipments of fresh potatoes were imminent.
They may still be, but it won't be as soon as originally
thought.
http://www.Spudman.com
April 2022

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