“The bill aims to help put veterans to work at Arizona’s understaffed U.S. ports of entry and help shrink the staffing shortage,” adds Soberanes. Even so, she emphasizes there’s still a need for significant improvement in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s hiring process and in ensuring ports of entry are fully staffed.
A Tale of Two Border Towns
There has long been a healthy spirit of competition between Nogales and McAllen, the Southwest’s other highly trafficked border crossing nestled in Hidalgo County, Texas. Despite the competition and arguments over which port has higher volume or greater sales value, most produce professionals say the two ports enjoy a friendly rivalry.
Second to None Up until a couple of years ago, Nogales comfortably held a century-long position as the primary port of entry for fresh produce from Mexico to the United States. Today, depending on who you ask or the figures you quote, Nogales and McAllen are neck and neck, jockeying for the top slot.
“Mariposa’s share of Mexican fresh produce imports has decreased,” observes Soberanes. “However, the data suggests that the relative change in Nogales’ port of entry’s position in comparison with Texas border ports of entry is not because of produce shipments being diverted.”
When it comes to trade volume, Soberanes says many factors come into play, including an uptick of produce production in central and southern Mexico, “at times [supported] by Texas investors,” she adds.
Mangos in November? Pears in December? Thank Nogales for a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from Mexico, keeping retailer shelves stocked year-round.
Though it shares its name with a sizeable city in the state of Sonora in Mexico, the U.S. version of Nogales spans a mere 20.8 miles and is home to fewer than 21,000 residents. It is, nonetheless, a powerhouse of international trade ushering in more than 50 types of Mexican-grown fruits and vegetables through its port of entry.
Billions of dollars of fresh produce cross the border, employing thousands and keeping hundreds of trucks on the road each day. The Mariposa Port of Entry is not only a bustling nerve center for the fresh produce industry, but a major economic driver for Santa Cruz County and the state of Arizona.
Of Great Import
The Nogales deal keeps suppliers in the border town on their toes, as Mexico’s winter growing season (from October to May or June) keeps brokers, truckers, and wholesalers moving tons of perishables throughout the United Statesand Canada.
Much of Nogales’ bounty goes to the West Coast, with lesser quantities to the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard, with rival port of entry McAllen, Texas sending more trucks eastward. Though the two ports jockey for the title of top border crossing, each is an indispensable part of the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain.
Bigger, Better, Busier
Of course, things haven’t always been rosy for the Mariposa Port and the many residents and businesses that depend on it. Up until its reopening in late 2014, the port was plagued by chronic congestion and nightmarish delays. Representing one of the U.S. General Services Administration’s largest investments to date, construction of the port’s $244 million expansion and modernization kicked off in 2009 as a “shovel ready” project.
The improved Mariposa Port was designed to increase the speed and accuracy of processing and to minimize legendary delays. As a result of the expansion, wait times at Mariposa have plummeted from a whopping seven hours to just one hour or less—a rather significant achievement.
In addition, highway infrastructure improvements are in the works, which should further improve the flow of traffic through Mariposa. Under changes approved by the Arizona State Transportation Board, the highway improvement project will reportedly begin in 2019, two years ahead of schedule. The $40 million project will improve a 3.75-mile section of State Route 189, including the construction of a flyover ramp connecting the highway to busy northbound Interstate 19.
Modern and Green
The recent Mariposa Port expansion was also constructed with a focus on environmentally-friendly construction and sustainability.
The port’s renovated structure is Lead-ership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, incorporating features such as a solar hot water system, rainwater harvesting, advanced lighting and building automation, and recycled content materials with low maintenance finishes.
Today, the Nogales Port Authority hails the Mariposa Port of Entry as one of the most modern and busiest border stations in the United States, allowing thousands of people and commodities to effortlessly cross the U.S.-Mexico border each day.
The People Factor
Ruth Soberanes is director of communications and strategic initiatives for the Arizona-Mexico Commission, which operates under the purview of the governor. She is proud of the port’s overall progress, boasting, “Cooperation among officials has never been better at Arizona’s ports of entry.”
Further, a recent pilot program uniting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, Nogales Commer-cial Port of Entry personnel, and Mexican customs officials helped reduce processing time even more at the border, lowering the average crossing time for cargo shipments to a mere 20 minutes.
With a staggering 300,000 northbound commercial vehicles from Mexico crossing through the Mariposa Port of Entry each year—many of these trucks loaded with perishables—this is good news indeed. It does not quell the clamor for more workers, however, as most Nogales suppliers say the need for more Customs officers is still critical.
Point of Fact Fresh Produce & Jobs
The Nogales produce industry supports more than 4,000 jobs, accounting for 22.3 percent of those employed, and generates over $190 million in wages (or 24.8 percent of overall wages). The total monetary impact of these jobs represents over $437 million (including wages and taxes) for Santa Cruz county.
Staffing Issues
“After the revamped border was finished, the only remaining question was adequate staffing,” reiterates Jerry Havel, director of sales and marketing for grower-shipper Fresh Farms. “If the government can provide the people we need to run the port efficiently, we don’t anticipate any issues.”
Although Nogales is slated to receive 120 new Customs officers, some say this still won’t be enough to handle all the traffic through Mariposa. To further complicate the issue, it currently takes about 300 days to properly hire and train a Customs officer.
Some lawmakers believe veterans could fill the void. Last year, a bipartisan bill was passed to enlist veterans to fill these customs agent positions. “With the leadership of Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ) and Representative Martha McSally (R-AZ), the ‘Border Jobs for Veterans Act’ was signed into law in fall 2015,” explains Soberanes.
“The bill aims to help put veterans to work at Arizona’s understaffed U.S. ports of entry and help shrink the staffing shortage,” adds Soberanes. Even so, she emphasizes there’s still a need for significant improvement in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s hiring process and in ensuring ports of entry are fully staffed.
A Tale of Two Border Towns
There has long been a healthy spirit of competition between Nogales and McAllen, the Southwest’s other highly trafficked border crossing nestled in Hidalgo County, Texas. Despite the competition and arguments over which port has higher volume or greater sales value, most produce professionals say the two ports enjoy a friendly rivalry.
Second to None Up until a couple of years ago, Nogales comfortably held a century-long position as the primary port of entry for fresh produce from Mexico to the United States. Today, depending on who you ask or the figures you quote, Nogales and McAllen are neck and neck, jockeying for the top slot.
“Mariposa’s share of Mexican fresh produce imports has decreased,” observes Soberanes. “However, the data suggests that the relative change in Nogales’ port of entry’s position in comparison with Texas border ports of entry is not because of produce shipments being diverted.”
When it comes to trade volume, Soberanes says many factors come into play, including an uptick of produce production in central and southern Mexico, “at times [supported] by Texas investors,” she adds.
More Growing Regions in Mexico
New produce growing areas were recently developed in several central and southern Mexico states including Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, and México. These regions export primarily through Texas border ports of entry not only because they are closer to the Lone Star State’s crossings—but also because many of these new growers and importers have ties to or are backed financially by Texas companies.
“The trend is growing in Mexico shipments overall, period,” explains Robert Bennen Jr., president of Ta-De Distribut-ing Company. “It is not an either/or proposition. It’s about destination.” He says while the Texas ports are ideal for companies with most of their customers in the East, Ta-De Distributing has been focused primarily in the West and northwestern states, “all via Nogales,” he notes.
“We’re seeing an increase in summertime exports from Mexico,” comments Chris Ciruli, COO for Ciruli Brothers, LLC. “We have shipping programs on vegetable items throughout Mexico between the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Morelos, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas. Further-more, our mango program spans from the southernmost states of Chiapas and Oaxaca to Nayarit and Sinaloa.”
“Everything we grow is in Mexico,” points out Miguel Suarez, sales manager at MAS Melons & Grapes, LLC. “A few years ago we had a lady grape grower in Egypt, and we imported her grapes into the United States.” The arrangement ended, however, and now MAS Melons has “a partnership among four growers from the Caborca, Sonora Mexico area” making the supplier “a vertically integrated company all the way from the fields to our customers.”
Two is Better than One?
In the meantime, more and more Nogales distributors are also establishing secondary offices and warehouses in Texas. For instance, Ciruli Brothers operates a warehouse in Donna, about 12 miles east of McAllen. “We’ve been importing and distributing from Texas for over 10 years now,” remarks Ciruli. “There have been more crossings through Texas each year and we expect this trend to continue.”
Havel agrees. “Yes, I think the Texas trend will continue to grow as established distributors from Nogales expand their business to offer loading in the McAllen region.”
Roberto Franzone, director at Arizona Sky Produce, Inc., is on the other side of the argument. “Texas has helped with lower costs for shipments both from Mexico and for the East Coast—and while this is a great benefit, there are times when you can still tell Texas is not Nogales,” he relates. “The delays, loading mishaps, required appointments for loading, and early hours are just a few points. We do not see Texas increasing as much as anticipated,” he notes.
“We don’t do a lot of East Coast business,” explains Edgar Duarte, secretary at Higueral Produce, Inc. “Our main concern is the West Coast. It used to be divided where Nogales handled all the West Coast business and Texas handled the East Coast. But we’ve had shippers from the Texas area now getting into our business on the West Coast. Especially with mangos, because they have a longer shelf life, are fairly easy to ship, and there aren’t as many freight costs with each package.”
“Importers of Mexican produce are diversifying their operations to take advantage of business opportunities,” confirms Lance Jungmeyer, president of Nogales-based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA). The strategy, however, goes both ways. “In addition to Nogales companies expanding in South Texas, we’re seeing South Texas importers diversifying into Nogales,” Jungmeyer says.
Duarte confirms the dual operations gambit, but it doesn’t always work out. “We actually had an office out in Texas two years ago, and we ran it for a year. Overall, the cost wasn’t really worth it,” he observes. “We’re still crossing through Texas for some of our customers, but it’s very little.”
