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Ban on Mexican avocado may be lifted

MOORPARK, Calif., May 28 (UPI) -- California avocado growers say a proposal to lift the state's ban on imports from Mexico could cut their revenues by more than $100 million, or 30 percent.

U.S. regulators are considering such a proposal, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Friday. California's avocado industry generates about $340 million in annual revenue.

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A ruling on lifting the ban is at least two months away, but California growers already are questioning the future of their soil.

They are mostly concerned about a new breed of crop-destroying insects that could accompany fruits from Mexico.

"The threat is significant. For many years there have been restrictions on Mexican avocados because of the seed weevil problem. And that problem has not gone away," said one California grower.

The United States imposed a blanket ban on Mexican avocados between 1914 and the mid-1990s amid concerns traveling insects would contaminate domestic orchards. But those concerns were debunked recently after a series of inspections on avocado orchards in central Mexico.

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