Ban on Alphonso mangoes: India to take up the issue with EU

Stung by the European Union's ban on import of Alphonso mangoes and a few vegetables from India, the government plans to raise the issue with the European Union Trade Commissioner soon for lifting of restrictions.

On Monday, the EU had temporarily banned imports of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India from May 1.

"The EU's move is a unilateral action. They should not do this.

“The Commerce Minister is expected to soon write a letter in this regard to EU Trade Commissioner Karl De Gucht," an official source told PTI.

Sources said Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday discussed the issue with his officials in an internal meeting.

The temporary ban has been imposed on Alphonso mangoes, eggplant, the taro plant, bitter gourd and snake gourd to tackle the ‘significant shortcomings in the phytosanitary certification system of such products exported to the EU’.

Imports have been restricted as 207 consignments of mangoes and some vegetables shipped from India in 2013 were found to be contaminated by pests.

A revision of the ban will take place before December 31, 2015.

The UK imports nearly 160 lakh (1.6 million) mangoes from India and the market for this fruit is worth nearly 6 million pounds a year. India, the world's largest exporter, sells about 65,000-70,000 tonnes of all varieties of mangoes in the global market out of total production of 15-16 lakh tonnes.