The federal government issued the guidelines that open the path to unblocking around 2,000 avocado orchards in Michoacán barred from exporting to the United States over deforestation, Alejandro Méndez López, head of Michoacán's Secretariat of Environment (Secma), told Quadratín on October 12.
The federal rules ordering the block have been in force since October 1, 2026, when the zero-deforestation environmental certificate and the Labor Certificate for Agro-Export became a condition for placing avocado in the US market. The weight of that chain is considerable: between January and August 2026 Mexico exported one million tonnes, 33.7% more than in the same period of 2025, although the value of shipments fell 44.5%, to 1,479 million dollars, according to El Economista and figures from the Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agrícolas. Michoacán and Jalisco account for 85% of national production, so regularizing orchards is also a matter of foreign currency for western Mexico.
In detail, Méndez specified that the size of the compensation will depend on the impact generated on the environment or the forested area, and that producers must do whatever Profepa dictates in order to export again. The Federation put the block at around 2,000 hectares, while the official spoke of 2,000 orchards barred. The mechanism also applies to Jalisco, which faced the same block, and the state authority will monitor to ensure the measures are applied equitably. In parallel, on October 7 the first labor certifications were delivered to 125 agro-export companies affiliated with APEAM and Udecam, a seal that adds to the phytosanitary, environmental, safety and traceability ones, according to Excélsior.
Unblocking requires a procedure: each orchard must prove the compensation set by the federal authority. Méndez maintained that the rules are clear and that monitoring will be rigorous, as international markets demand. For the sector, the next step is to document the area to be restored orchard by orchard and to keep environmental and labor certificates current.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.