US will gradually resume avocado inspections in conflictive Mexican state, ambassador says

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. government inspections of avocados and mangoes in the Mexican state of Michoacan will gradually resume. U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar made that announcement Friday, a week after they were suspended over an assault on inspectors. Salazar says in a statement that the U.S. Agriculture Department inspectors “will gradually begin to return to the packing plants following recent aggression against them.” The ambassador said earlier this week that two USDA employees were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in Michoacan last weekend. That led the U.S. to suspend inspections in Mexico’s biggest avocado-producing state.