The Mexican government is currently negotiating with the U.S. to allow avocado exports in from Jalisco, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).

The Secretary of Sader, Víctor Villalobos said that his counterpart in the U.S., Thomas Vilsack, has shown interest in the subject.

Mexico is the world leader in the cultivation and export of avocados and it contributes one of every three avocados entering the international market with a planted area of 241,000 hectares and a production of almost 2.4 million metric tons (MT) in 2020.

About four-fifths of national production and almost all exports come only from Michoacán, a southwestern state with a production volume of more than 1.8 million MT per year.

Villalobos announced that progress is being made in negotiations with the U.S. to open avocado exports from Jalisco to the market in that country.

"Avocados are so important for Mexico as the fruit is the main agricultural export product in the country."

Only from January to September 2021, exports totaled $2.2 million, an increase of almost six percent year-on-year, Villalobos said.

Throughout all of 2020, Mexican avocado exports totaled almost three million, an increase year-on-year despite the pandemic, according to the Bank of Mexico.

The main export destination is the U.S., but other markets include Japan, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, France, China, the UK, Honduras, South Korea and El Salvador.