Mexican Potato Growers to Oversight US Potato Import Inspection

According to leaders of the Idaho and U.S. potato industries, the group that represents Mexico’s potato industry could be attempting to further impede the importation of fresh U.S. potatoes into all of Mexico following the recent Supreme Court ruling.

During the Idaho Potato Commission’s regular monthly meeting May 19, industry leaders announced that the National Confederation of Potato Growers of Mexico (CONPAPA) reached an agreement with the Mexican Supreme Court that will result in half of the samples taken from fresh U.S. potato shipments being sent to a laboratory selected by CONPAPA to be tested. The other half will go to a government-run lab.

That means CONPAPA, which competes against the U.S. potato industry, will have a direct hand in inspecting U.S. potato imports and that is deeply troubling to members of the United States’ potato industry.

To have a competing domestic industry be involved by regulation in inspecting imported product is an unprecedented development, National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles told Idaho Farm Bureau Federation.

Quarles said the U.S. potato industry is very pleased with the Mexican Supreme Court’s ruling but the recent development of CONPAPA being allowed to choose where half the samples are tested "is just the most recent chapter in this very long saga. [...] It’s about those folks not wanting to compete with us.”

According to the NPC, the U.S. potato industry estimates that if the United States is able to export fresh potatoes into the entire country, it would provide a market potential of USD200m per year in five years. Quarles said the U.S. fresh potato industry estimates having access to all of Mexico would increase U.S. fresh potato exports by about 15%. “Expanding an export market by that much is a huge deal,” he said.