Mexico-EU Cooperation on Agave and Tequila

During one of the bilateral U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) meetings, a discussion took place aimed at preserving tequila as a distinctive product under the agreement, with the aim of maintaining its duty-free access to the U.S. market, as well as strengthening mechanisms for cooperation and protection of the Tequila Designation of Origin, which is one of the seven areas of action proposed by representatives of the agave-tequila production chain and U.S. lawmakers.

During that meeting, held at the headquarters of the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), as part of the visit to Jalisco by Congresswomen Salud Carbajal, Linda T. Sánchez, and Emily Randall, members of the Congressional Tequila Caucus.

 Among the priorities are maintaining the recognition of tequila as a distinctive product within the USMCA, as well as preserving its duty-free access to the U.S. market, which is the main destination for the Mexican beverage.

A second focus area concerns the continuation of the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on tequila trade, the purpose of which is to ensure mechanisms for trade cooperation between the two countries.

The agreed-upon agenda also calls for strengthening technical cooperation between the CRT’s laboratories and those of the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), a collaboration aimed at enhancing controls related to the authenticity and quality of tequila.

According to CRT figures, tequila generates more than 200,000 jobs in the United States, including in the retail, hospitality, distribution, and manufacturing sectors, while tequila sales account for more than US$14 billion in federal and state tax revenue.