Despite tall claims of the authorities concerned that mango would be exported to the European Union after taking all due safety measures, a mango shipment exported from the country on June 16 and intercepted by UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on June 17 was found infested with fruit fly.
The consignment originated from a registered orchard located in Tehsil Kotri, District Jamshoro, Sindh, and was sent by a Hyderabad-based exporter to the UK through a foreign airline on June 16.
The Department of Plant Protection (DPP) of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research received this information from the Sanco Europhyte on June 20, which the DPP has now conveyed to exporters, relevant ministries and government departments.
Four more cases of fruit fly infestation will lead to a EU ban on mango export from Pakistan. Against this backdrop, the DPP has now decided that “no shipment from mango orchards of Sindh and Punjab will be allowed for export to UK and EU countries without hot water treatment with immediate effect irrespective of their origin (registered or unregistered orchards) till further orders.”
