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U.S. Peach Industry Fights to Increase Exports to Mexico Industry wants shipping obstacles to Mexico changed
By Karen Gentry Associate Editor

Fresh peaches from the U.S. have been all but banned from Mexico since 1991 and peach industry representatives are trying to change that. They want some of the obstacles to shipping to Mexico changed to be able to benefit from the growing, lucrative produce market in Mexico. Click here for a Production of fresh market peaches chart.

In 1991 Mexican officials discovered oriental fruit moth in a shipment from California and banned fresh peaches from the U.S. unless shippers and growers follow an extensive protocol or fumigate their fruit with methyl bromide, according to Charles Walker, managing director of the National Peach Council.

Oriental fruit moth came into the U.S. into California around 1913 from Japan and Asia before spreading all over the country. Peaches have been shipped from the U.S. since the 1940s. Many believe the oriental fruit moth is also in Mexico, according to Walker.

“We don’t think it’s a phytosanitary issue,” said Walker. The peach industry has had to take Mexico’s word that there’s no oriental fruit moth in their country.

“Growers have lost millions of dollars over the years. The Mexican market has grown more lucrative,” Walker said. The amount of fresh peaches that could be shipped to Mexico is unknown. “Whatever quantity we could direct to the Mexican market would take pressure off of the domestic market. We’re trying to bring pressure wherever we can,” said Walker.

Peach industry representatives are making legislators aware of the issue . A delegation letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman is in the works that will hopefully contain signatures from 20-30 U.S. representatives. “We’re trying the same on the Senate side,” Walker said.

In 1991 Mexico established a shipping protocol to their country for stone fruit - peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots, according to Richard Matoian, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League.

Some shippers have been able to export to Mexico by using methyl bromide as a postharvest treatment. Many growers believe the methyl bromide diminishes the shelf life of fruit, which the shippers find unsatisfactory, Walker said. Matoian said growers also don’t want to use methyl bromide because it will be banned in the U.S. by 2005.

Approximately 20 shippers from California growers have also been shipping fresh peaches through a systems approach, which is very complicated and burdensome.

Through this program that has to be approved every year, Mexican inspectors come to the U.S. with all of their expenses paid by the grower. Growers must trap their fields to detect pests through mating disruption and, based on the number of moths, the growers must spray their fields, Matoian said. Fruit must be cut in the field to determine if there are any pests. Fruit also has to be cut in the packinghouse and the fruit must be set aside in a separate area for fruit destined for Mexico. Shippers must obtain a phytosanitary certificate from their county agriculture officials that can be overseen by Mexican inspectors. Mexican inspectors also check grower records.

“Once fruit makes it to the Mexican border, officials inspect it one more time,” said Matoian. Some growers will put up with this protocol which Matoian terms a “bunch of b.s.” because Mexico will take smaller fruit that isn’t typically acceptable in the U.S. market. California does more exporting because of their much longer season that begins in April and runs until the first week of October.

Walker said many growers won’t participate in this systems approach because finding one insect will shut the program down and cause their fruit to be rejected.

“At the very least we want to make the program more manageable than what it is today,” Matoian said. He said taking out different components of the Mexican program would help. He said the California Grape & Tree Fruit League is working with the National Peach Council, Congressmen and the USDA in efforts to get things changed.

Growers who participate in the program must pay all of the expenses of the Mexican inspectors in the U.S. including housing, transportation, phones and faxes.

Matoian speculates that Mexico’s strict protocol is related to the Mexican fruit fly. He said the Mexican fruit fly on a scale of one to 10, would rate a 10 as far as a pest risk while the U.S. and all other countries besides Mexico would rate the oriental fruit moth as a two.

Matoian said the Mexican fruit fly can spell doom to even being able to export, so shipments of avocados and mangos from Mexico are inspected very closely.

“Growers have to put up with a bunch of lousy restrictions that really make no sense,” Matoian said. Despite the restrictions, Mexico is still the fourth largest importer of peaches, plums and nectarines from California and the third largest nationally for fresh peaches. Last year California shipped 1.25 million boxes of the fruit from California, according to Matoian.