U.S. Fresh Potatoes to Mexico Pt 1

U.S. Fresh Potatoes to Mexico Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I’m Bob Larson. The National Potato Council is encouraging Mexico Supreme Court justices to vote for a draft ruling that would overturn Mexico’s ban on U.S. fresh potato imports.

NPC CEO Kam Quarles says this is clearly a very important step in clearing the way for fresh potatoes in Mexico …

QUARLES … “A draft ruling has come out of the Mexican Supreme Court that, as you say, would effectively end, at least the legal part, of this 20-year-plus ban on U.S. Potatoes being able to be shipped to Mexico.”

A positive vote on this draft ruling, Quarles says would be huge for the industry …

QUARLES … “That vote is actually going to take place on Wednesday and the ruling, the draft ruling, is very emphatic. It hits every single point that we needed it to hit to overturn this ban. We’re just hopeful that the votes are there from the other justices to make it actually Supreme Court precedent.”

Quarles says we don’t need a positive vote from all five, but that would be nice…

QUARLES … “Simple majority, three votes will have it passed. We think there’s good reasons why it should a unanimous vote, but we’re hopeful that, at a minimum, will get the three votes. We know one vote is there, the justice who wrote the opinion, we need two more.”

Tune in tomorrow for more on Wednesday’s vote by the Mexican Supreme Court and what it could mean for U.S. fresh potatoes.

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