ISLAMABAD: Australian Department of Water, Agriculture and Environment has approved two mango processing facilities of Pakistan for exports to Australia, in addition to two existing facilities.
Advisor for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood in his tweet said, “I am glad to share that two mango treatment facilities in Pakistan, Mustafa Farm and IAC, have been approved by Australian authorities for export of Mangoes from Pakistan. This has been done just in time for the mango season. I congratulate the two companies of this achievement and commend the facilitation provided by our Consul General (Trade) @ashraf179 at Sydney in this regard.”
Muhammad Ashraf, Consul General of Pakistan Sydney stated that the fresh mangoes from Pakistan are permitted for import into Australia subject to the condition that the mangoes must undergo pre-export hot water dipping treatment (HWDT) or irradiation treatment in one of the approved facilities. So far, only two facilities i.e. Horti Fresh and PARAS Foods were approved for import into Australia. Pakistan had filed the request for approval of three more facilities around five years ago. “After concerted efforts during the last year, we are able to get two facilities approved,” he added. Pakistan hopes to have one more approved in the coming weeks.
Pakistan Consul General to Sydney has been officially informed by the Australian side that: “the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has approved the following facilities to conduct pre-export hot water dipping treatment for mangoes exported to Australia; (i) Mustafa Agriculture Farm, Verh, Kotri District Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan; (ii) Iftekhar Ahmed & Co. New Sabzi Mandi, Karachi. The approvals will be reflected in Australia’s bio-security import conditions database very shortly.
Though Australia also produces mangoes, there is considerable potential for import of Pakistani mangoes because of (a) the opposite production season with Pakistani mangoes, and (b) for South Asian ethnic market segment, which has a developed taste for soft, sweet and aromatic Pakistani mango varieties, besides positioning it as ‘exotic’ fruit for the mainstream consumer.
Pakistan’s mango exports to Australia have increased from 2 tonnes in 2013 to 79 tonnes in 2019, increasing Pakistan’s share in imports from 0.2 percent in 2013 to 8.7 percent in 2019. In value terms, Pakistan’s total exports in 2019 amounted to $212,000. The major consumer of Pakistani mango remains the South Asian ethnic community of 1.3 million in Australia. Due to the limited capacity of the existing two approved facilities, mango exports were range-bound.
With the approval of these new facilities, a considerable increase in exports is expected during the upcoming season, said Consul General Muhammad Ashraf.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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