Mexico avocado export labor certificate extension to March 2027, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): The Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) has extended the validity of the Labor Certificate for Agro-export (CLA) applicable to avocados until March 7, 2027, to give producers and exporters more time to compile information about their value chains.
According to a document published today in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), the change corresponds to the second phase of the pilot program, which covers the registration of producers, orchards and other participants in the export chain. The agreement, signed by Labor Secretary Marath Bolaños López, states that applications for this phase must be submitted between November 1 and 7, 2026.
Applicants must enter information on producers, orchards and other value chain participants into the Velagro platform. In this phase, the CLA will be issued with validity from November 1, 2026 to March 7, 2027.
The ministry also changed the schedule for employer registrations with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), which will be phased in between March and June 2027. In March, applicants must show that at least 25 percent of their value chain participants have employer registration; the share rises to 50 percent in April, 75 percent in May and 100 percent in June.
Applicants must access Velagro and complete the corresponding registration during the application periods from the 1st to the 7th of March, April, May and June 2027. Once all employer registrations are in place, the staggered application of the technical factor will run from July to October 2027, rising from 25 to 100 percent.
The STPS left unchanged the start of the transition to the permanent CLA regime, scheduled for November 2027, with validity ending February 7, 2028. The adjustment also allows certificates to be issued without classification and with different validity periods, depending on the pilot program’s results.
The adjustment also considers the start of operation, on December 31, 2026, of the Export Avocado Traceability Computer System (Sitaex), which will allow registration of certified orchards, monitoring of harvests and verification of phytosanitary conditions in orchards. The agreement takes effect November 5, 2026.
