Costa Rica has extended the ban on the Hass avocados grown in Mexico, claiming that the product is contaminated with a plague that has yet to appear in the country.
Last week, US authorities approved imports of the Mexican product, even to regions of Hawaii and Puerto Rico where sunblocht disease hasn’t been recorded.
The director of plants protection, Francisco Dall’Anese, said the certification granted by the United States to Mexican avocados doesn’t include sunblotchs disease, because this disease already exists in that country.
Dall’Anese said that Mexico most impose rigorous measure to prevent the plague from entering Costa Rica, before they will resume negotiations.
Exporters and trade groups reject the authorities reasons for preventing the import of Mexican avocados.
Randall Benavides, spokesman for the group, said there is zero risk that crops in Costa Rica will contaminate with sunblotch, because the product is entering only for human consumption and not for cultivation.
Costa Rica faces a lawsuit from Mexico and other countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for its decision to ban imported avocados.
Source: CRhoy.com .