Importing Avocados Bugs Growers

To hear Laguna Niguel avocado grower Tom Risner tell it, Californians aren’t afraid of the competition if creamy Mexican avocados are imported into the American Northeast.

They just don’t want those pesky white mites that sometimes lurk in the fruit to migrate to California fields, Risner says. After all, he asks, how could the journey of an avocado be tracked once it crosses the U.S.-Mexico border?

Nonsense, say the Mexican avocado aficionados from Texas.

The U.S. government already allows Mexican avocados to cross the border if they are for personal use and only if the large seeds inside are removed. The pulp can also be mashed up, placed in containers and sold in the United States as guacamole under controlled conditions.

And if they are good enough for Japanese consumers, then. . . .

So goes the great avocado war--mired in politics as California farmers battle Texas politicians over a proposal to allow avocado imports from Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering amending an 81-year-old quarantine and allowing Hass avocados from the Mexican state of Michoacan to be imported into 19 Northern states via Texas ports.

The issue pits California farmers worried about pest infestation--and a flooded avocado market--against Texas businesses waiting to reap the economic benefits of increased trade.

“The Mexicans have never gotten a handle on the parasitic pests that would wipe out our industry here in California,” said Risner, who farms 40 acres in northern San Diego County.

“It’s not a matter of fearing the competition. It’s a matter of fearing the destruction of what we have here. . . . The [U.S.] government has made it clear they have no way to monitor the flow or where they end up.”

But Rep. E. “Kika” de la Garza (D-Texas) asserts the Department of Agriculture has a scientifically sound plan that would prevent unwanted insects from infesting U.S. crops. “If we can send a man to the moon, we can get a bug out of an avocado,” he said.

In Orange County, avocados are produced on 1,482 acres concentrated in El Toro, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano. Last year’s crop produced 1,793 tons of fruit worth $3.3 million, according to the Orange County Agriculture Commission.

Under the Texas-Mexico plan being considered by the Department of Agriculture, Mexican avocados would be permitted to enter the Texas ports of Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo and Houston. The fruit may then be shipped to 19 approved states, including New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

In order to prevent infestation, the Department of Agriculture has proposed that the Mexican fruit be allowed into the country from November through February, when cold weather in the North would kill any pests. It also establishes packing and shipping standards and requires Michoacan to set up pest-free zones.

As if mites know how to stay within their “pest-free” borders, Risner said.

Besides, said Betty Bohrk, industry affairs manager for the Santa Ana-based California Avocado Commission, the precautions might not protect California avocado groves because once the fruit is shipped to approved states, it can be shipped into California.

“It could not only destroy the avocado crops but the entire California fruit crop,” she said. “This time, we want to say, ‘Let’s not worry about the free trade so much. Let’s worry about the pests.’ ”

California growers also argue that Japan can afford to import Mexican avocados because it doesn’t have an avocado crop and doesn’t run the risk of crop infestation.

So fearful are Californians about the Mexican avocado, that Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) attached provisions to the House Agriculture spending bill to protect home-grown avocados from infestation by crops imported from Mexico. The amendment recommended that the Department of Agriculture use scientifically credible pest risk assessment and risk management before lifting the quarantine.

Meanwhile, De la Garza is pushing for a decision in favor of Mexican avocado imports.

“For us in Texas, it’s a big plus because they’ll be coming through the area. All the incidentals will be a plus--hotels, motels, truckers,” said De la Garza, who was an ardent supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement. “We may as well be a part of the act.”

Xavier Equihua, a representative for the Michoacan Avocado Commission based in Washington, said it’s the competition and not the possible pest infestation that’s driving the California opposition.

“They’ve had a monopoly since 1914 and they don’t want to break it,” he said of California’s efforts to maintain the quarantine. “We want to work with them, we want to be partners.”

Another Texan chimes in that the decision has been delayed by the Department of Agriculture because “it’s a totally political situation.”

“The presidential election is coming up and California is a big state,” said Beverly Mendoza, coordinator for agricultural economic policy at the Texas Agriculture Department.

The California-Texas conflict is what an analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services called “politics-a-go-go.”

“This is just as contentious as the day is long,” said Steve O’Neill, the staffer who is responsible for sifting through the 2,080 comments the Department of Agriculture has received on the proposal, one of the largest responses to a department proposal he has ever seen.

Of the total responses, 310 supported Mexican imports, while 1,751 opposed, with most negative responses coming from--not surprisingly--California.

Despite the large number of negative comments, O’Neill insisted it is not a popularity contest. But with so many letters from lawmakers, he acknowledged that the final decision may have to be kicked upstairs to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.

“I might think at the upper levels in the secretary’s office, they are aware of the power of the purse,” he said, referring to congressional authority to control the agency’s budget. “On my level, it’s just another comment.”

But on the local level, it’s economics.

Risner said that if the rules are changed, “I would seriously consider shutting [the avocado production] down” to avoid fighting crop infestation.