Indian mango exports to the UAE are under threat after the UAE authorities have said that pesticide residues in consignments are higher than prescribed limits. Pests and diseases have also been found in some vegetable deliveries.
The UAE’s ministry of climate change and environment issued a warning concerning higher than the prescribed limit of pesticide residues in chilli, pepper and cucumber consignments.
“We have issued an advisory to the exporters concerned. We’ve also started mandatory registration of all exporters of agricultural products,” said a senior official of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda).
There have, in fact, been quality issues for India’s mango export over four years, hitting the volumes. From 63,594 tonnes of fresh mango export in 2011-12, the shipments of this seasonal fruit fell to 43,191 tonnes in 2014-15.
The UAE ministry asked Indian exporters to send a pesticide residue analysis report with each consignment. And, warned it might stop imports if shipments don’t come up to standard. Apeda has repeated the warning to exporters. And, the department of agriculture has advised issue of phytosanitary certificates for fruit and vegetables exported to the UAE only after production of the test report on pesticide residues by an Apeda-recognised laboratory.
Apart from the UAE, some European countries have also discovered presence of pests and diseases in some mango consignments.
“There is no major threat of a ban. We are exporting mango to high quality-conscious countries like America and Japan. Indian exporters need to be little more cautious about the quality of the mango they export,” said the Apeda official.
