Avocado Growers Protest Plan to Lift Ban on Imports : Agriculture: Farmers fear shipments of Mexican fruit could lead to smuggling and unwanted bugs.

More than 100 Ventura County avocado growers and public officials descended on a hearing in Escondido on Wednesday and Thursday to voice concerns about a government plan to lift a ban on Mexican avocados.

The hearing, held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to listen to public comments on the plan, drew about 1,600 people to the California Center for the Arts.

Some arrived on buses provided by the California Avocado Commission, which wants the ban to stay in place. Others used their trucks and tractors to parade outside the center Wednesday morning.

The hearing consisted of testimony from U.S. government experts who explained the plan, Mexican government officials who endorsed it and growers who warned of adverse effects from lifting the ban.

Ed McFadden of Fillmore, who testified Thursday, said he and other local growers fear Mexican avocados shipped to the states could bring with them new, destructive insects.

“We don’t understand why the USDA would make a proposal that would expose us to that kind of risk,” McFadden said.

The plan--part of the easing of trade restrictions between the two countries--would allow the importation of Mexican Haas avocados into 19 northeastern states during the winter months.

None of the states that would receive shipments are within several hundred miles of California; the closest is Illinois. But, since production costs are lower for Mexican growers, California farmers say the fruit could be smuggled illegally between states, potentially bringing along an infestation of bugs.

Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail said at the hearing that the government does not have enough inspectors to ensure that shipped fruit is free of harmful insects or to prevent interstate smuggling.

“The way the budget is going right now, the USDA is going to be losing inspectors, not gaining inspectors,” he said.

The proposal does not require the same standard of careful treatment of fruit that Ventura growers had to follow during the recent Medfly quarantine, McPhail said.

“Free trade is nice, and we’re just as much for it as anyone, but we’ve got to have a level playing field,” he said.

In addition to McPhail, Ventura County Supervisors John K. Flynn and Frank Schillo attended the hearing, as did Farm Bureau Executive Director Rex Laird.

The unexpected large turnout at the hearing surprised planners, said Larry Hawkins, a public affairs specialist for the department’s animal and plant health inspection service. Four previous hearings were held on the issue, none of which drew more than a few hundred people, he said. About 700 people had been expected at the Escondido hearing.

Instead, the crowd quickly filled the 700-seat meeting room. A second room was then equipped with a closed-circuit television system to handle the overflow.

Most of the speakers presented their comments calmly and professionally, Hawkins and others said.

“Generally, it’s been civil,” McFadden said Thursday afternoon. “Occasionally, emotions have flared. There’s many hundreds of people worried about their livelihoods.”

Although the hearing was scheduled to end at 6 p.m. Thursday, federal agriculture officials said they will continue to accept written comments on the proposal through Oct. 16.

McPhail said he hoped the large turnout would make an impression on federal officials considering the plan.

“I think we made an impact, we really did,” he said.