Mango exports decline

IQBAL MIRZA

KARACHI: Total quantity of mangoes exported during the season which ended last month represented less than five percent of the total production which stood at 1.7 million tons. This was despite the fact that the demand for Pakistani mangoes and mango products was constantly on the rise in overseas markets, particularly in China, UK and UAE, according to the CEO of Harvest Trading, Ahmad Jawad.

Experts believe that there exists huge potential to export about 35 to 40 percent of total production of mangoes, which is over and above the domestic demand.

Jawad told Business Recorder that in exports, Pakistan's focus hitherto remained limited to the Middle East, the United Kingdom and some European countries. Despite this, among the mango exporting countries, Pakistan enjoys the distinction of being the fourth largest exporter of this delicious fruit. With a little more effort, the country can become a leading mango exporting country on the globe.

The major constraint to the expansion of the market for Pakistani mangoes has, till recently, been related to the country's inability to supply competitively priced high quality mangoes in a significant and consistent manner, in keeping with the demands of supermarket chains.

Pushed by a desire to reap maximum benefits from a wide range of its horticultural products (vegetables, fruits, fruit juices and pulps) and eyeing to net over one billion dollars annually from the export of various horticultural products, Pakistan has made a beginning by launching, in collaboration with USAID, a four-year project to make Pakistani mangoes a force in the international market.

The Harvest Trading CEO said that by increasing exports of Pakistani mangoes, USAID-Pakistan "FIRMS project" also aims at attracting new investment, creating additional job opportunities, particularly for women, and achieving income growth in the targeted areas. Another major aim of the FIRMS project is to help mango farmers both in Punjab and Sindh achieve the Global Gap certification for exports, in keeping with the requirements of EU-USA markets, by raising standards of production, disease control, post-harvest handling and packaging.

This season, total exports of mangoes did not exceed 130,000 tons. Exporters suffered huge losses this season as a result of shipping lines' delayed shipments, and clearance from local customs authorities was affected by the temporary closure, and the rains in Punjab caused major damage to the fruit there.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Company (PHDEC) had painted a rosy picture for fruit exporters, claiming that sales of mangoes to Japan and the United States would surge dramatically in the next season. But the bitter truth is that little headway was made in negotiations with both these countries.

On July 30, the inaugural ceremony of Pakistani mangoes was held at a Chicago hotel. The event was hosted by the country's ambassador to the United States of Pakistan where ambassadors and many US dignitaries were in attendance. Approximately 2800 kilograms of mangoes were shipped to the US for this ceremony, costing the exporters more than $50,000. "Exporters are considering this a sunk cost because so far the US government has shown no inclination to redress stringent quality requirements that limit the viability of exports to the world's largest importer of mangoes," Jawad said.

The United States has authorised a single facility in Sioux City, Iowa, to irradiate mangoes imported from Pakistan. Exporters have clamoured for the approval of Pakistani plants, including an existing facility in Lahore; to perform the same process. But so far, their requests have fallen on deaf ears. Officials from PHDEC and the Commerce Ministry have also reportedly asserted that the country can initiate exports of this fruit to Japan from next year to the tune of 200-300 tons. But, among the trade barriers is the requirement of vapour-heat treatment (VHT) of all mangoes shipped to Japan.

He said that the VHT facility, as a pilot project showed that the total capacity of this installation is about 180 kilograms of mangoes per day, which is not sufficient to initiate commercial export of mangoes to Japan.

The Japanese government has keenly persued local exporters to purchase a commercial-scale VHT plant, "but this installation will cost us about Rs350 million and even after its installation we would still be in a vulnerable position if a couple of years later, the Japanese government introduces new regulations regarding the export of mangoes to their country". Instead of purchasing expensive infrastructure that is only relevant for exports to one country (Japan), Pakistan government must work towards establishing indigenous process for quality control and getting them approved by the governments of major markets, he said.

At present, most of Pakistani mango farmers lack heat treatment and chillers facility to improve the shelf life of the product. However, currently, three or four Pakistani farms and one group of producers in Multan meet the Global Gap certification requirements of European markets. For the past decade, the Latin American suppliers have been meeting over 99 percent demand of the US market for mangoes. In view of the distance involved, apparently, the ability to profitably supply the US market from Pakistan remains a challenging job.

Jawad said now growers and exporters need proactive measures from the government to secure favourable terms for export to the United States, Japan and other global destinations with 5 years strategy, and suggested that "we must diversify focus towards Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore in the Asia and the Netherlands, France, U.K, Germany and Australia".