Mexico supports food trade with 15 African countries

With the aim of increasing the presence of Mexican products in Africa in the medium term, the Government of Mexico is working to increase shipments of Mexican products to Nigeria, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said on Saturday.

And the agency stated in a statement that Mexico currently maintains food trade with several African countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Egypt, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa and Mozambique. Ghana, Zaire and Oman.

The text indicated that “with these countries there is trade exchange for products such as sesame, Jamaica, rice, strawberries, corn, apples, cocoa, nuts, pears, tobacco, grapes, poultry, lobsters, mojara and sardines.”

As part of this particular trade, Sader indicated that health authorities from Mexico and Nigeria signed an action plan for the safe export of the hibiscus flower from the African country to the Latin American country.

Those responsible for signing the document were the Director of Plant Health at the National Agricultural Food Health, Safety and Quality Service (Sinaseca), Francisco Ramirez, and the Controller General of the Nigerian Plant Quarantine Service, Vicente Isigbe.

The Mexican official noted that the agreement stipulates that the Nigerian authorities “will certify exporting companies that comply with the requirements required by Sinaseca,” such as proper cleaning and quarantine treatment of containers and setting up traps to detect the presence of pests such as the Capra weevil.

In addition to the technical quarantine treatments in Sinaseca, the authorities will check compliance with the provisions and inspectors in Mexico will once again check the goods at the points of entry into the country, with the aim of minimizing the risk of entry and spread of pests and diseases of economic importance to the national territory.

The note indicated that this new trade agreement replaces direct interaction between exporters and importers, as it defines obligations and responsibilities for the governments of Mexico and Nigeria, within the framework of regulations recognized by more than 180 countries prior to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). ..

The hibiscus flower is an emblematic product of Nigeria due to its availability and high quality, and currently has reliable traceability mechanisms in place to provide assurances to importing countries.