Food items restrictions

[Hpymils]

Are any food items (fruit,meat,etc) restricted from being brought in to Mexico?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The personnel I see with my eyes and talk to, are not college trained. Facilities may say SAGARPA but the young men running them are hired and employed by the SAGARPA trained jefe. Entiendes? Second - personnel who conduct livestock and poultry inspections are of a TOTALLY different caliber. These are the places the public bypasses because they are not driving a vehicle with animals or fowl. Visitors have zero contact with these puestos.

I tried to stick with productos agricolas in what I wrote above. At the border they are concerned with flesh and fowl. The puntas de revision for animals within the country have NOTHING TO DO WITH TOURISTS.

Sector agropecuario es la parte del sector primario compuesta por el sector agrícola (agricultura)

These are the people who inspect EVERYONE. Just like at a reten or puesto de control. The INDIVIDUAL SARGARPA MANAGER can hire people that do not have to be college educated. This, this, this, and that, is FORBIDDEN. These are the folks that tourists come in contact with. When you see someone's spelled words sanhoria, lechuga, saboya, jitomato, this is college education? I haul my mangos past two agropecuarios coming and going. They are Sagarpa, and never have I seen the same young man twice. Why are they young? I asked one (translated) Me dijo el jefe "The boss said to me I have to have the ability to crawl and climb up onto trucks and search to make sure nothing prohibited goes past". Make no mistake about it. Each caseta has a way to communicate with the SSP or Policia de Estatal. To blow by one of these casetas is an infraccion and not a lightweight one. But none of the working personnel I have dealt with at the Sagarpas agricolas have more than a rudimentary education. They are taught to recognize fungicide treatment of my fruit. 23 tons was hauled in August.

Live and learn.



Luego (then) el sector ganadero o pecuario (ganadería). COWS CATTLE, BULLS GOATS, SHEEP, CHICKENS, EGGS, and CERDOS. Inspection for diseases absolutely requires education and training. These places have clear signage and are located well off the shoulder of the highway with a huge lot for truck parking. If someone hauling livestock gets a bold idea to run past without stopping the thought of a fine running eqvt to thousands of dollars, seizure of the vehicle and a few days en el bote tempers their impatience. Every single livestock inspector is certified.

When I brought hens and roosters from the Ejido supply in Lazaro, I had to show the inspector the paperwork and my credenciales. He looked over the fowl closely, counted heads, then signed and stamped the paperwork and kept a copy.

Bottom line. An RV'er is likely to encounter several puestos de agricola on a long trip. Rather than engage in a "fruitless" argument, it's best to travel light. Until the next stop. Claro?

Live and learn...

[Hpymils]

Chris is there a difference in the staffing of the inspection stations on the roads across the country and the staffing of stations of agricultural, aquaculture and fishery products for importation and national mobilization?

[Hpymils]

Thanks Mexicowanderer. Your post is well worth reading. I am going to copy it for future reference.

[qtla9111]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Arguing with 6th grade educated agricultural "inspectors" is unproductive. They make international border inspectors look like geniuses.

What an insult. You know little about Sagarpa.

El personal responsable para realizar las inspecciones a productos agropecuarios, acuícolas y pesqueros de importación y de movilización nacional, está conformado por médicos veterinarios zootecnistas, ingenieros agrónomos y biólogos.

The personnel responsible for conducting inspections of agricultural, aquaculture and fishery products for importation and national mobilization, are made up of veterinary technicians, agronomists and biologists.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I am purchasing "queso chedar fuerte" in Costco, but I suspect not every warehouse carries it.

To me, Pollo Bachoco is an identical twin to Foster Farms. Some beef needs felony grade beating to render it palatable. Pure range beef can be so tough it is near impossible to masticate enough to swallow. No fooling bring one of those little hammers with the pyramid points to render Goodyear beef to edible status. Soaking overnight in the fridge submerged in fresh pure juice of the papaya also helps jackhammer tenderized beef. Costco has great beef but it cannot compete with tougher Mexican beef for price. If possible try before you purchase a bunch of purported "Sonoran" beef. When the USA started consuming food corn to ruin gasoline the price of alimento de granos de elote for Sonora beef shot way up. So some carnicerias catering to Americans liberalized the concept of truth in advertising.

I've not encountered free range "pollo" down here that did not cost almost twice as much as Bachoco "Foster Farms". But the flavor is incredibly better and most Mexicans are jealous of their source. Same goes for free range eggs - higher price per dozen, most are small to medium, but yolks are almost orange and like the meat the superb taste will ruin you forever.

It's tough to stumble across mediocre pork. Whole ham is not common in stores. Neither is other "exotic" meats like carnero (lamb) or veal. When you do find them it may rattle your wallet.

Mexican Customs has the perfect excuse for hunting down illegal beef. Vaca Loca. Mad Cow, disease. Relevant or not this is the barrier to stop imported by RV beef. The 10,000,000 chicken killer virus of a few years ago is the reason for it's prohibition along with eggs.

Citrus fruits are particularly targeted just about everywhere.

Not only is stuff examined at the border there are numerous "Regional" inspection points where agricultural items are denied passage. It's a good idea to talk to RV park neighbors while on a long trip to avoid losing a refrigerator full of freshly purchased produce. A couple of examples are southbound stations at the border of Baja California and Baja California Sur, and the station near the border of Sinaloa and Sonora. There are many of these scattered throughout the country, usually at state lines. The knotheads will even take unopened Kirkland Signature cartons of salad labelled in Spanish with a "Factura" an official government recognized sales receipt taped to the container.

I "go with the flow" and buy regional. When I travel the refrigerator has stuff like juice, prepared cassaroles and the like. Arguing with 6th grade educated agricultural "inspectors" is unproductive. They make international border inspectors look like geniuses.

[moisheh]

It depends where you are crossing. Lukeville can be bad. We bring whatever we wan Usually things that cannot be had in Mexico: Canadian flour, aged cheddar,etc. Chicken and beef is often better in Mexico.

Moisheh

[2oldman]

food into MX

Also online.