by Aditi Tandon, The Tribune
Premium Indian Alphonso mango, the king of fruits, is all set to re-enter the European markets. The government said the EU ban on Alphonso imports would be lifted shortly.
EU had on May 1 this year temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes and four other vegetables from India, after several samples failed quality tests.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told the Lok Sabha recently that the mango export from India to EU will resume. “It’s true that EU had banned the import of Indian mangoes on account of pest infestation. But I will in two to three months get rid of that ban and India will once again export mangoes to Europe,” the Agriculture Minister said.
The 28-member European Union had amid protests from the Indian community in EU, lawmakers in Europe and India and mango traders, imposed the ban after 207 Indian consignments of fruits and vegetables imported to the EU in 2013 were found containing fruit flies and other pests.
The EU’s standing committee on plant health recommended the ban on mangoes, eggplant, taro plant, bitter gourd and snake gourd from India citing severe deficiencies in the phyto-sanitary certification system of the products headed for EU.
EU’s concern was — pests in Indian consignments could enter EU’s agriculture chain and affect domestic produce.
Source: Tribune India