Mexico Launches Deforestation-Free Avocado Export Program

ByMexico Solidarity

This article by Jared Laureles originally appeared in the October 26, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. The federal government formally launched the deforestation-free agricultural export program, which will feature avocados.

This project will focus on the avocado production chain, from planting and crop management to harvesting, packaging, and export, under decent working conditions and in compliance with phytosanitary standards.

Mexico is the leading producer of this fruit, with nearly 3 million tons annually, and exports mainly to countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, and Spain. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mexican avocado sales are estimated to reach $4 billion by the end of 2025.

Other products will be progressively incorporated into the federal program, and the next expected addition will be berries , another of the fruits with the highest demand abroad.

It will be implemented by the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), Labour and Social Security (STPS), Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), and the Mexican Social Security Institute.

Avocado production faces challenges such as deforestation and informal labor. According to Semarnat (National Semarnat), between 2018 and 2024, approximately 20,000 hectares of deforestation were identified for avocado orchards, some of them caused by arson. Furthermore, this crop requires a high level of water, and its uncontrolled expansion seriously affects ecosystems.

The agreement from the Official Gazette of the Federation, effective yesterday, establishes measures to ensure that avocado agricultural products and byproducts for export are produced on land free of deforestation, that phytosanitary requirements are met, and that workers are provided with decent conditions, completely excluding child labor.

This way, agricultural workers will be able to access IMSS insurance.

It also indicates that a Technical Committee must be established, comprised of the heads of the aforementioned Secretariats, who may designate a substitute to participate in the sessions in their absence.

This body must be established within the next 30 business days and will meet regularly at least four times a year.

The document states that within the next 60 days, the departments and the IMSS will issue administrative provisions to establish the operational mechanics and procedures in accordance with their powers, with the goal of implementing them starting April 1, 2026.