EU to lift restriction on Indian mangoes

The European Union has lifted the ban on importing Indian mangoes, which was imposed in May last year.

EU had restricted the shipment of Indian mangoes, including the Alphonso variety, in addition to four vegetables from the country due to the detection of quarantine pests in containers imported in 2013.

The latest development comes after the Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office carried out an audit in India last year, which showed improvements in the phytosanitary export certification system.

As a result, the commission’s proposal to lift the ban was approved in the member state experts meeting.

A statement from European Commission read as: "India has also provided assurances that appropriate measures are now available to ensure that the exports of mango fruits are free from quarantine pest, like the fruit flies not known to occur in the union.

"The measures will allow the import of mango fruits before the start of the next import season in March 2015."

However, other food stuffs including bitter gourd, eggplant and snake gourd will remain restricted.

According to the estimates, UK imports around 16 million mangoes from India and market for the fruit is worth nearly GBP6m a year, The Hindu reported.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president M Rafeeque Ahmed was quoted by The Hindu as saying: "The imposition of ban on mangoes did affect India’s exports of fresh fruits, which declined from $307.38m in April-November 2013 to $291.43m in April-November 2014.

"Mango exports to EU suffered a major dent and went down from $8.9m in 2013-14 to $1.07m in 2014-15 [April-September period]."

---

Image: EU’s decision to lift the ban will be a boost for Indian farmers and exporters. Photo: courtesy of Arvind Balaraman/ freedigitalphotos.net.