The new agreement facilitates Mexican growers to directly sell their produce to US retailers and otherwise protect the rights to seek damages in the event of a warranty breach
Image: Mexican Tomato Growers sign agreement with US Commerce Department. Photo: Courtesy of Couleur from Pixabay.
The Mexican tomato growers have executed a final agreement with the US Department of Commerce to suspend the antidumping investigation and remove duties on imports of Mexican tomatoes into the US.
Under the new agreement, the US Department of Agriculture is responsible for conducting inspections in accordance with its normal practice, including being done in a timely manner and completed within 24 hours.
In addition, the US Department of Commerce also committed that the inspection programme is planned to be developed and implemented in consultation with experts at the USDA.
The Sinaloa Growers Association director Mario Robles said: “The agreement was hard fought, but we were able to secure a number of important provisions that will make this deal work for our distributors and customers.”
The Baja growers association president Salvador Garcia said: “It was very important to us that our U.S. customers not lose their options and we are happy that Commerce agreed.”
The agreement reached minutes before the deadline would benefit both US and Mexico
According to the CAADES grower association, the provisions are expected to help relieve concerns over the setting up of a de facto quota or volume restriction by the US.
In addition, the provisions would also benefit both countries concerned about bottlenecks at the border and supply chain delays.
The new agreement with the US Department of Commerce facilitates Mexican growers to directly sell their produce to US retailers and otherwise protect the rights to seek damages in the event of a warranty breach.
The agreement includes increases in minimum reference prices for Mexican tomatoes and inspections for quality of Mexican tomatoes entering the US.
In addition, the agreement aimed at closing loopholes from previous suspension agreements allows sales below reference prices, and ensures that the US tomato industry would be protected from unfair trade.
The AMHPAC growers association have started the negotiations with the Florida Tomato Exchange demanding that the reference prices should be extended downstream to the final sale.
The Sonora growers association president Antonio Gandara said: “We take the Department of Commerce at its word that the agreement is not designed to impede trade and we thank the Department’s team for working with us to make important changes to the agreement in the last 30 days. We look forward to continue supplying the best tomatoes in the world to U.S. consumers.”