A new international fresh produce event – the America Trades Produce conference (ATP) – debuted in McAllen, Texas, last week, attracting over 200 delegates much to the satisfaction of the organising institutions.
A collaboration between the Nogales-based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) and the Texas Produce Association (TPA), the gathering was billed as a timely new regional conference focusing on the issues, trends and opportunities in the fresh fruit and vegetable trade between Mexico and the US.
“We’re quite pleased to see such a strong turn-out for a first-time event,” said TPA president John McClung.
The first regional conference was held on 31 March to 1 April 2011, and will likely become an annual affair rotating between Arizona and south Texas.
During the event, Ambassador Isi A. Siddiqui, chief agricultural negotiator from the Office of the US Trade Representative, noted that agriculture continues to be the one aspect of the US economy which is generating a positive balance of trade.
“When I was with the Clinton administration (during the 1990s), US agricultural exports totaled around US$60bn,” said Ambassador Siddiqui.
“We were hoping to see US$100bn (within the next decade), but it’s looking like the total will exceed US$135bn for 2011.”
Ambassador Siddiqui explained that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has evolved into a US$330bn economic engine for Mexico, Canada and the US since its inception in 1994.
This is in spite of recent retaliatory tariffs placed on US-grown produce items by Mexico over a trucking dispute.
Carlos Vazquez, Mexico’s Agriculture Minister to Washington DC, also noted that since NAFTA’s inception, Mexico has become one of the leading sources for a variety of agricultural commodities imported into the US.
But Mr Vazquez noted that trade agreements are no guarantee of reciprocity between signatories.
The full story is available in the April/May issue of Americafruit Magazine.
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