Mexican politicians are worried that the Chinese may be crawling into their special territory: Agave. The lower house of congress is asking Mexico to stop Chinese firms from patenting mageuy which is a type of cactus which will produce agave needed for tequila.
Nopal, another cactus which could threaten the Mexican industry may be targeted by Japanese and Chinese production companies.
“Nopal and Maguey are Mexican plants and if we don’t take the necessary measures in time, we run the risk of losing the denomination of origin”, Cesar Duarte, the deputy who sponsored the move, told the Efe news agency.
There is rumor the Chinese firms may have already contacted the European Commission about registering the Nopal plant as a product of China. This hasn’t been confirmed but it could mean Chinese are working on a plan to cut into Mexico’s precious tequila industry.
I’m not sure if it will help or harm us, but tradition has always referenced tequila as a product of Mexico. The end result could be good for the consumer if the tequila they produce in China is of high quality and taste. It may also reduce the cost of tequila, in general, if it floods the market.
(Thanks, BBC)
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