UAE issues warning to India's mango, vegetable exporters

Higher than prescribed limit of pesticide residues found in some consignments

Mango export from India is under severe threat, after the UAE authorities say pesticide residues in consignments are higher than the prescribed limit by the global standard. Plus, pest and disease in some vegetable consignments.

The UAE’s ministry of climate change and environment has issued a warning; their markets take 70 per cent of our mango export. They say they’ve also found pesticide residues higher than the prescribed limit 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). “So, things would be under control soon.”

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 during 2011-12, our shipment of this seasonal fruit was 43,191 tonnes in 2014-15.

The UAE ministry has asked Indian exporters to send a pesticide residue analysis report with each consignment. And, warned it might stop import 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 pest and disease 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 on the quality of the mango they export,” said the Apeda official.