India rejects US help for mango irradiation process

In order to minimise procedural costs, India has said presence of inspectors from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is not required to certify irradiation of mango export consignments.

Presently, India bears the cost of USDA inspectors, who visit the country to oversee the irradiation process.

Last year, inspectors from the US came to India twice to clear irradiation of mango consignments, which were being exported to that country after a gap of 18 years.

Nearly 180 tonnes of mangoes, which included varieties like alphonso, were exported to the US last year. Before that, Indian mangoes were banned in the US over concerns of high pesticide usage.

In one such visit lasting 21 days, the cost of hosting the inspectors was around $85,000, or close to Rs 34,00,000.

The irradiation process is carried out at two facilities at Lasalgaon and Vashi in Maharashtra as a precaution against the presence of fruit flies inside the mangoes.

The issue came up for discussion at a meeting last month between commerce ministry officials and their US counterparts.

"We told them that India can certify on its own that the mango consignments have been through the required irradiation process and conforms to global sanitary and phytosanitary standards," a commerce ministry official said.

The Indian government's stand comes ahead of the season for mango production, which lasts from March to August.

"Apeda (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) incurred the cost last year in order to facilitate re-opening of exports after such a long gap. However, it is not possible for us to bear such an expenditure year-on-year. We have communicated to them that we are well equipped to carry on the specific inspection procedures and there is no need to send their inspectors," said S Dave, director, Apeda.

According to Apeda, mango exporters will not be able to bear the cost of the US agriculture inspectors, as it would make the "golden" fruit uncompetitive.

The lifting of the ban on mango export was a key development during the visit of US President George Bush to India in March 2006.

India is the largest exporter of mangoes and accounts for 50 per cent of the world production at 12 million tonnes. During 2006-07, the country exported 79,060 tonnes of mangoes, up 13.58 per cent from 69,606 tonnes in the previous year.

The size of the US mango market is estimated at about 250,000 tonnes. At present, the Mexican varieties dominate the US market.

To boost the demand for Indian mangoes in the US, Apeda is planning to start promotional activities in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Houston between April and May.