Russia cancels $0.4 million mango orders

The country's fruit exports are likely to face a setback following cancellation of orders worth $0.4 million by Russian mango importers. Exporters told Business Recorder here on Wednesday that the main reason cited by Russian importers of mango was that the fruit was low quality.
They also expressed fears that the fruit might contract infections as it was not graded according to international standards. Russia had banned exports of all commodities from Pakistan when an insect known as 'khapra beetle' was found in rice consignments during inspection at Russian ports.
Pakistan exports about $36.80 million worth of kinnow to Russia every year and, if the present trend continued, kinnow exports may also face a ban in the coming season. Pakistan exporters fear strict enforcement of standards on all Pakistani exports to Russia in future. They also that this trend in Russia about Pakistani commodities might disturb the 125,000 tons mango exports target, as so far only 37,000 tons has been exported.
Last year, on rice ban issue, Russia and Pakistan had reached an agreement that Moscow would allow exports from Islamabad if the latter followed the rules under Geneva Convention.
Pak-Russia consultation process was saved in a compact disc (CD) and Islamabad was to send the disc to Moscow after its clearance by higher authorities, but officials in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) lost the CD, exporters claimed.
The issue was dealt with "irresponsibly and carelessly by Minfal which earned bad reputation for Pakistani products, vis-a-vis quality", they said. The government should address the root-causes by paying proper attention to exporters' problems and make available commodities of standard quality, said the exporters.
"Exporters want establishment of cold storages which are necessary for all food (fruits and vegetables) items rather than giving subsidies," said Chairman of All Pakistan Fruits & Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association, Abdul Wahid.
He said that even mobile cold storages could be established in Tando Allahyar, Khairpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Multan. A comprehensive roadmap with a "separate export strategy" for the fruit industry is required to bring the sector in a state-of-the-art position and getting rid of the traditional means of production, Wahid said.
Growers, who have mostly feudal background or are small farmers, know nothing about the use of modern technological equipments, which affects badly the quality of production, he said. "Growers in Pakistan still use sticks for plucking fruits while in foreign countries scissors and other advanced means are used for this purpose," he said.
He appreciated the establishment of Horticulture Board (HB) as it comprises all stakeholders, and said that the Ministry of Commerce should decide about its fate as the Board is almost non-functional and lacks required authority.
He criticised the federal government for establishing a Radiation Plant for fruit processing in Lahore, which is not a central point for fruit items, and proposed Karachi Super Highway, where fruits come from across the country, as an ideal place for putting up such plant.
Vapor Heat Plant (VHP), given by Japan to Pakistan, is lying unused in the Karachi Quarantine Department, while India today sells its mango products for $500 to $700 per ton in Japan after using the fruit processing machine, he said.
He said that mango varieties like Sindhri, Chaunsa, Lal Badshah, Sunera, Neelam and Baigan Phali should be upgraded instead of investing a great chunk of amount on 'useless exhibitions'.