Mexico — Vegetables and Vegetable Products — Pepper
Mexico received 170 FDA import refusals in Pepper, part of Vegetables and Vegetable Products between 2024-Q1 and 2026-Q4. Volume peaked at 25 in 2024-Q4, with the trend roughly flat year-on-year. The most-cited issues are filth, pesticide residue, and poisonous or deleterious substance. Measured against US import value, that runs at 30.5 refusals per $1 billion of imports of this commodity from Mexico over the last 3 years.
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Key figures
If you import pepper from Mexico
Below the median. Mexico ranks 4th of 5 origins shipping pepper to the US on refusals per $1 billion of US imports, at 30.5 — above 25% of them.
least riskmost risk
- Hazard or paperwork
- Of 178 refusals in the last 3 years, 165 were hazard findings and 13 paperwork alone.
- Refusals against import volume
- On average, 1 refusal per 19,310 tonnes imported into the US over the last 3 years; the lowest refusal rate of 5 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (US import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
- Where refusals happen
- DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border (155); DNEI — Northeast (17); DWCI — West Coast (3).
- Riskiest months
- August, October, November, by refusals since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- filth (90), pesticide residue (65), poisonous or deleterious substance (6), Salmonella (4), insanitary handling (1).
- Paperwork to get right
- FSVP violation (8), no manufacturer name (6), not in English (3).
FDA does not publish how many entries it examines, so no page can state a true probability of refusal; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly refusals, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Refusals | Hazard | Paperwork |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-Q1 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 13 | 11 | 2 |
| 2024-Q3 | 12 | 11 | 1 |
| 2024-Q4 | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 13 | 12 | 1 |
| 2025-Q2 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 24 | 23 | 1 |
| 2026-Q1 | 18 | 17 | 1 |
| 2026-Q2 | 13 | 8 | 5 |
| 2026-Q3 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| 2026-Q4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Recent refusals
- NDA-1038736-9 PIMIENTO PEPPER, JUICE Import division DSWI. pesticide residue
- AZK-1156340-8 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- AZK-1156353-1 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- AZK-1156355-6 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- 392-0264148-4 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- BJG-0221790-8 SERRANO PEPPER, HOT (FRUIT USED AS VEGETABLE) Import division DSWI. pesticide residue
- 1FX-1695861-4 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSEI. filth
- BYX-0314869-3 PEPPER, HOT, N.E.C. (FRUIT USED AS VEGETABLE) Import division DSWI. pesticide residue
- BYX-0314651-5 PEPPER, HOT, N.E.C. (FRUIT USED AS VEGETABLE) Import division DSWI. pesticide residue
- H87-0302132-4 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- AZK-1156018-0 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- DR4-0705419-3 JALAPENO PEPPER, HOT (FRUIT USED AS VEGETABLE) Import division DSWI. poisonous or deleterious substance
- DR4-0705409-4 JALAPENO PEPPER, HOT (FRUIT USED AS VEGETABLE) Import division DSWI. poisonous or deleterious substance
- DR4-0705408-6 JALAPENO PEPPER, HOT (FRUIT USED AS VEGETABLE) Import division DSWI. poisonous or deleterious substance
- AEK-0896482-6 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSEI. filth
- DV1-0276886-3 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- AZK-1156252-5 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- B2M-8002426-8 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- B2M-8002421-9 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
- B2M-8002422-7 PEPPER, HOT, DRIED OR PASTE Import division DSWI. filth
Data and downloads
Download all 357 entries (CSV) — every refusal behind this page, with its import division, FDA product code, charges and whether it was a hazard finding or paperwork.
The file holds entries up to 2026-10-19. To get new ones for Mexico by email, watch Mexico.
Mexico country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →