The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

38 JUNE 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The process to get agricultural products into the U.S. market is managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and APHIS. First, APHIS conducts a Pest Risk Assessment of the production area, which identifies and evaluates all insect pests associated with the commodity. A risk management document follows that explains how the pests can be mitigated or eliminated. Next, a proposed rule is published that invites public comment. After the comments are fully addressed, USDA-APHIS finalizes the rule in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, and it is codified in the Code of Federal Regulations and has the force of law. At that point the commodity (in this case, avocados) can be exported to the United States. Sounds simple, right? Not quite. The main problemwith avocado production here is the terrain. If you look at the topography of Colombia, you will see that the greatest challenge in traveling to production areas and transporting avocados is the Andes Mountain range, which branches out into three separate chains, or cordilleras . Avocados are grown on its hillsides for good drainage, which allows them to thrive. I had never before seen commercial production in such steep and remote locations. What’s more, in 2016, the country’s 50-year-long armed conflict was finally being brought to an end, and land previously unreachable because of the conflict was now available for farm- ing and development. Roads and packhouses were being built to connect the fruit with avenues for export. Because land was made available at different times, however, there was no single, consolidated region for avocado production, and this increased the difficulty of pest identification and detection and complicated the process of getting the product cleared for export. If certain insects are found in the fincas (farms) producing avocados for export, that area is disqualified from shipping them until the pest issue is resolved. Getting Down to Work The hardest part was not the travel to the various regions; it was explaining these difficulties to Washington. Since the rulemaking process in Washington was not something we could control, Dr. Guzman and I simply got to work in Colombia. We set out for the fields, mindful that they had been inacces- sible for more than 50 years because of the conflict, and that no well-meaning entomologist or veterinarian had been allowed or would have dared to go there during that time. Our primary concern was supporting our colleagues in the Institute of Colombian Agriculture. Our Colombian counterparts at ICA were our hosts and were responsible for the surveil- lance and trapping of plant pests and, ultimately, certification of the phytosanitary integrity of shipments exported to the United States. With ICA colleague Emilio Arevalo Peñaranda, we embarked on a yearlong journey, meeting with producers across the many regions of Colombia. We visited farms and packhouses to sensitize the managers on what exactly would be needed to export. At each place we vis- ited, we could see the foundations for commerce and agriculture being cultivated. Avocado trees that shouldn’t have been there were growing on slopes; and while I had difficulty fathoming how they were planted or harvested, the signs of “green gold” were evident, bringing prosperity to regions that had suffered for so very long. Everywhere we traveled, we heard stories of the conflict and of years of struggle. I’m not saying that avocados have solved these problems; but frommy vantage point, this emerging market and all those growing, harvesting, packing and moving avocados are making a bold statement about Colombia. When the final rule establishing the legal basis for granting market access was published on Aug. 15, 2017, it was greeted with tremendous excitement and coincided with the visit of Vice President Mike Pence to Colombia. There were many hand- shakes, and many photos were taken and plaques given. And I imagine that a number of employee evaluation reports (EERs) were filled in with mentions of avocado access. We visited farms and packhouses to sensitize the managers on what exactly would be needed to export. COURTESYOFMARCGILKEY Roberto Guzman of APHIS, at left, and Emilio Arevalo Peñaranda of ICA and their team look out over avocado farms in Colombia’s mountainous terrain.