By Wendy Anders

Last year, many in Costa Rica were surprised by a governmental decision to ban imports of Mexican avocados.

The government alleged the ban was due to a blight that might spread to local crops, according to reports in various local media sources, but inside sources said the allegation was unfounded.

For the last two decades, Mexico has provided Costa Rica with the vast majority of its creamy, flavorful Hass avocados which became a mainstay for Costa Rican consumers.

According to the Costa Rican daily El Diario Extra, Costa Rican Agriculture and Livestock Minister Luis Felipe Arauz in a meeting yesterday confirmed Hass avocados will soon be able to be imported from the Dominican Republic.

Since last year’s ban, supermarkets and the hotel and restaurant industry have tried to meet the avocado demand with imports from Chile and Peru but consistently face shortages. The South American fruits were found to be inferior in quality, reported several local sources, as well as notably more expensive.

Randall Benavides, president of the Chamber of Perishable Goods Exporters and Importers, has publicly denounced that the Mexican import ban has created a contraband market in Hass avocados, which for the duration of the Costa Rican ban have continued to pass through the country on their way to Panama which has no such ban on Mexican avocados.

In the meantime, EFE newswire reported in March that Mexico will be filing arbitration with the World Trade Organization in an attempt to annul Costa Rica’s Mexican avocado import ban which Mexico claims did not comply with information exchange protocols established under international trade agreements.

The Costa Rica-Mexico Chamber of Industry and Commerce reports on their website that at the time of the ban Mexico was exporting 12,000 tons of Hass avocados annually to Costa Rica valued at some US$50 million.