An Importer's Guide to Nontraditional Agricultural Products from Guatemala

Excerpts from the report Preface: The U.S. Mission in Guatemala has compiled the following information as a guide to U.S. importers interested in expanding or initiating a commercial relationship with the Central American Republic of Guatemala. The booklet should be equally useful to potential investors and representatives of related service industries who require a summary of the Guatemalan nontraditional agricultural sector in a concise format. The U.S. Mission provides this revision to complement the efforts of the Nontraditional Export Guild (Gremial de Exportadores de Productos No-tradicionales) to support one of the most rapidly evolving sectors of this primarily agricultural economy. Export promotion, and particularly diversification to "nontraditional" exports, is one way in which the United States contributes to the success of Guatemala under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, with the goal of improving economic conditions and increasing two-way trade. The products listed in this guide are those agricultural products considered nontraditional. The most important exports from Guatemala continue to be traditional agricultural exports -- coffee, bananas, and sugar. The winter vegetable, tropical fruit, and herb and spice industries are areas of greater interest in terms of potential expansion, however.