ACCORDING to a report of The Times of India, low quality Indian mangoes, banned by the European Union, have started to trickle into the Bangladesh market. Following the EU ban, the Indian state of Orissa has already sent the first consignment of homegrown Amrapali mango to Bangladesh through train on Friday. Orissa State’s horticulture officials said that they have sent around three tons of mangoes to Bangladesh for trial and market exploration. They have plans to increase exports to Bangladesh as well.
According to a Press Trust of India report, the EU’s ban on import of Indian mangoes, which came into force on Friday, will remain effective until December 2015 after authorities in Brussels found consignments infested with pests they fear could damage European salad crops. Non-European food pests were found in 207 shipments of fruit and vegetables in 2013. The ban also includes aubergines, two types of squash, and a type of leaf called patra used in cooking.
Bangladesh Commerce Ministry officials, however, told local press that they were not aware of any mango import from India. A senior official said that the Ministry would verify the news and then it would take steps accordingly. We have no reservation about having variations of this juicy fruit being available at a cheap rate in Bangladesh if it is not problematic otherwise. Especially, when Bangladesh’s Hilsha is being exported to India in bulk quantities and we are being deprived of it we should rather be welcome about receiving its reciprocal in the form of Mangoes. But, it turns out that India is exporting this prime variety mango only after it has been rejected by the European buyers for not fulfilling the requirements. That is in more simple words, those pest infected mangoes are potentially hazardous to public health which is why the EU banned these. It is not only harmful for our consumers but also humiliating for us as a nation to know that we are importing hazardous products. It is outrageous that the Commerce Ministry knows nothing of the incident at all.
We urge BSTI and the Commerce Ministry to thoroughly examine the matter. Mangoes that are not consumable to the European consumers mean that it is harmful for local buyers as well. Without further ado the already imported mangoes should be stopped from being marketed to the retailers and consumers and as Indians have plans to import such mangoes into Bangladesh again, the government should be vigilant that in future these type of mangoes are not allowed to enter the local market. None has the right to expose the public to potential health hazards.
