Jalisco Develops a Guide Book for Producers

With a new free trade agreement between North American countries, new  Mexican labeling regulations and an ongoing pandemic, Jalisco agribusinesses representatives have decided to create a ‘guide book’ for agricultural producers. It will provide producers with information on Mexican and US procedures and regulations. In an interview with El Economista, the president of the Jalisco Agrifood Council (CAJ), described it as “a kind of glossary, a quick route so that they understand what they should do if they want to export.”

For the next five months, companies in the agro-industrial sector will receive information weekly from officials of the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Transportation, amongst others. In the interview, CAJ president also stated that for the foreseeable future, COVID-19 will probably lead international markets raise new barriers for food imports. In response, he stated, regional agribusiness is preparing for new regulations.

Interested in more? Read the biggest agribusiness headlines of the week!

• During the months of the COVID-19 health emergency, the Instituted Trusts in Relation to Agriculture (FIRA) has provided just over MX$80 billion (US$3.8 billion) to support borrowers through various measures, El Economista reports. This is to benefit the intermediary financial services that serve agri-food activities. According to the report, the most requested financial product has been credits.

• The Federal Consumer Prosecutor's Office (PROFECO) lifted the ban on sales of 12 cheeses and yoghurts on Saturday after it stated that the products had adjusted their labeling to meet the official standards. A total of 19 brands of cheese and two of yogurts were withdrawn from the market on October 13 for not complying with official regulations  and because their sale was harmful and misleading consumers, reports El Sol de México.

• According to the latest figures collected by Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agrícolas (GCMA), between January and September, Mexican livestock imports dropped by 22 percent in expenditure compared to the first nine months of 2019. Beef saw the greatest reduction by 27.5 percent in quantity, followed by 16.2 percent in pork and 4.8 percent in chicken.

• During the annual ‘Trinational Agreement on Agriculture’ forum held virtually this week and attended by representatives of provinces of Canada and states of Mexico and the US, Mexican Minister of Agriculture Víctor Villalobos highlighted that that the three governments are carrying out coordinated work in epidemiological investigation and surveillance, including the development of vaccines and biosafety capacities for producers and consumers. Special mention was made of efforts to prevent the spread of the African Swine virus to North America.

• During a virtual meeting of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), a body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the new Mexican Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Suárez Carrera, called for the replacement of the “productivist, exclusive, predatory, poor nutrition food systems” with a new global agri-food scheme that focuses on justice, rights, well-being, health and care for nature.

• A few hours after the deadline that Mexico had to comply with the delivery of water to the US, stipulated in the International Water Treaty between the two countries, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that a "good agreement" was reached with US authorities, avoiding sanctions and promising the water's delivery to Mexico’s northern neighbor. He also accused the government of Chihuahua state of showing a lack of responsibility during the crisis. The agreement comes after producers in the state of Chihuahua took over the La Boquilla dam, reasoning that they would run out of water if water would be diverted to the US.

• After the agreement, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) warned that diverting the water to the US would potentially put at risk the availability of drinkable water for 1.2 million people living in 13 cities of Coahuila and Tamaulipas: Ciudad Acuña, Piedras Negras and Hidalgo Diez in Coahuila and Nuevo Laredo, Guerrero, Mier, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Camargo, Miguel Alemán, Reynosa, Valle Hermoso, Río Bravo and Matamoros, in Tamaulipas.