$1/2 MILLION PLAN THROWS ROTTEN TOMATO AT MAKING BROWNSVILLE-MATAMOROS PRODUCE IMPORT CENTER

By Juan Montoya
For more than two years, local entrepreneurs and planners have been trying to developed the connections with Mexican produce exporters to make the Brownsville-Matamoros area the main port of entry for Mexican produce from western Mexico.
With the completion of the Mazatlan-Durango Highway that ends in Matamoros, they foresaw an opportunity to entice truck traffic to the Port of Brownsville, through the Intercoastal Highway, and through the interstate system connections into the East Coast and the interior of the United States.
In fact, the $454,592.02 "comprehensive plan" funded by the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, the Public Utilities Board and the Port of Brownsville addresses this niche market in one of its sections titled "Develop Cross-Border Trade in Specialized Commodities."

The section, authored by Cambridge Systematics, Inc. for Robin McCaffrey of Needham, McCaffrey and Associates, states that "Brownsville should explore the potential to develop similar two-way trades in other key commodities..which could open new markets for the Brownsville region."
The key, the writers say, "will be to find an adequate backhaul opportunity. Fruit and agricultural commodities may provide such an opportunity. As noted above, some agricultural imports are already shifting east towards Texas ports of entry. Infrastructure -wise, additional fruit and agricultural imports through Brownsville would require improved border crossing capacity to prevent spoilage, appropriate inspection facilities, and refrigerated warehousing  to store perishables for distribution in the U.S."
So far, so good, you think?
Well, think again.
Just a few pages later, Cambridge Systems throws the proponents of the Brownsville-Matamoros produce hub idea a rotten tomato.
Noting that agricultural products from Mexico already cross at several Texas crossings, including some in the Brownsville area, the writers note that "grains red meat, poultry, and corn and soybean meal are important southbound commodities while northbound trade is dominated by produce, livestock, red meat and processed food products."
The Brownsville-Matamoros entry point is the ninth largest port of entry for U.S. agricultural products being exported to Mexico, with grains and soybeans and wheat constituting 95 percent of this trade.
However, and there is always a however, wit this bunch, the plan states that other border locations have proven to be more attractive for cross-border shipments of fresh produce. Nogalez, Arizona, for example, is still the largest single-crossing for produce shipped to the U.S. from Mexico, and the Laredo border crossing is the largest in Texas.
ust to the west of Cameron County in McAllen is the third-largest border crossing for U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico, composed of the Pharr-Reynosa international bridge and the Nuevo Progreso International Bridge. These two, the reports continues, handle grain, sorghum, meat, poultry, citrus, and vegetables.
And while noting that there has already been some shift of produce cargo from Nogales to crossing in Texas, which are much closer to the eastern population centers including, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. That has led to and increase in fruit and vegetables shipments crossing in Texas ports of entry that has surpassed the crossing in Arizona for the first time since 2010-2011. In fact, the writers say that Wal-Mart has already instructed its Mexican suppliers to send produce shipments to the McAllen/Reynosa area once the Mazatlan-Durango highway is complete.
Noting that massive construction of refrigerated warehouses and distribution parks in Edinburg and the McAllen area have already been completed, the  writers say Brownsville-Matamoros are out of the running.
"Given the relatively minor role of Brownsville-Matamoros in this trade, and its comparative lack of refrigerated warehouse space and reefer capacity, it is unlikely that produce will be a significant growth opportunity going forward," they state.
"Even though Brownsville and McAllen are approximately equidistant from interstate highway connections to San Antonio and Houston, McAllen's existing infrastructure will probably lure the bulk of any new produce trade across there."
Instead, says the development plan which was tailor-made for United Brownsville advocates of the idea of directing this areas' resources on the industry in northern Tamaulipas, all of this region's efforts (and cash) should be directed toward propping up the maquiladora trade and putting all its eggs in the basket of future petroleum exploration by the Mexican government.

But before those proponents of making Brownsville-Matamoros a produce shipping center jump off the Queen Isabella Causeway in despair, realize that some of the movers and shakers of United Brownsville have a stake in pushing for the maquiladoras (Imagina Matamoros Sergio Arguelles, for one) and others want to continue benefiting from the maquiladora trade (IBC's President Fred Rusteberg).
And just as the findings of this section seem suspect because of the hidden interests guiding the writers' pens, so, too should local residents be wary of the motives behind the "comprehensive plan" which seeks to steer the area's economic development into a few select hands like those of United Brownsville architect Carlos Marin and former UTB president Julieta Garcia and her brood.