CONPAPA's activities began in 1988 as a result of the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada (NAFTA), in response to the requirement to establish an organization with representation before the three nations' various official and commercial institutions.

Its constitution provided for the potential to participate in a negotiation to protect the interests of all Mexican potato producers.

It is a legally constituted organization established in 1991 under the Law of Agricultural Associations in the presence of officials from the Secretariat of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources, with the participation and affiliation of 12 potato producer organizations from Guanajuato, Sinaloa, Aguascalientes, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and the State of Mexico.

It currently represents the 8,700 potato producers in Mexico and groups together 37 organizations.