Pakistan is set to miss its annual Mango export target of 125,000 tonnes with a 20 percent decline in production and according to mango exporters, mismanagement by the Department of Plant Protection (DPP).
“The poor strategy of the DPP has put the mango export target in jeopardy,” stated Muhammad Shehzad Shaikh, Chairman of The All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers, and Merchants Association (PFVA), in a letter to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Thursday.
DPP issued a new SOP on 12th June declaring the requirement of hot water treatment (HWT) from approved plants only.
PFVA stated that DPP is running favouritism for its blue-eyed plants and this discriminatory policy has shut down 90 percent of 35 plants which were not issued NOCs by the Department of Plant Protection causing $44 million in losses. It has turned 2500 labour unemployed and 6,000 more have also felt the effects.
“Hot water treatment (HWT) is done to free mangoes from the fruit fly eggs which is a stringent requirement when exporting mangoes to Iran and European Union” stated Ibrahim Akbar Bokhari, Managing Director at Awwal Frams and co-founder of Farmdar
He added that the Department of Plant Protection only know how to say no instead of facilitating the growers and government needs to provide a conducive environment for compliance by digitizing and easing the process of registering the hot water plants.
He also pointed out that these bottlenecks incentivize exporters to ship untreated mangoes under the radar which threatens our export relations in the long term with a country-wide ban in case even a few consistent fruit-fly-containing shipments make their way across the border into Iran.
Iran is the export destination for our mangoes with 45000 tonnes which should highlight how critical is to remedy the current situation. UAE is at second with 35000 tonnes and Oman stands third with 15000 tonnes, added Bokhari.
The DPP is declining NOCs on minute objections that are out of the criteria of basic functioning and non-approved plants have never received any complaint from their buyers from Europe, Iran, Australia, China, Kenya and Iraq in years prior to today, added PFVA.
PVFA conveyed to the ministry that the existing plants are running over their capacity which threats the effectiveness of treatment. It also stated that these policies are benefiting a few ones and there needs to be strict action against those damaging the national trade.
PFVA chairman Muhammad Shehzad Sheikh noted that India will get a competitive advantage due to this despite exporters having confirmed orders for the future as well.
The prolonged winter this year has also contributed to knocking 20 percent of mango production in the country with Chaunsa being the prime victim of this climate change anomaly. Although the sizes of all varieties across the board have been affected as well.
PFVA Patron-in-Chief Waheed Ahmad had predicted a 20 percent decline in Mango production to 1.44 million tonnes from 1.8 million tonnes last year. Last year it was the heat waves and this year, it’s the less than usual temperatures.
It is no secret that the behaviours of nearly all our regulatory bodies essentially create incentives for non-compliance with regulations from the outset. Instead of encouraging growers to build their own hot water treatment plants and facilitating increased exports, the regulatory bodies are shutting down the plants without offering any contingency plans or expediting the registration process.
Instead of building its own hot water treatment plants and welcoming growers to export more, our regulatory bodies are shutting down the plants rather without a contingency or expediting the registration process.
There is an urgent need to establish a clear distinction between bureaucratic shenanigans and the industry’s requirements. It is crucial to emphasize that regulators are meant to facilitate rather than exacerbate challenges for a sector that already grapples with the imminent threat of climate change, which poses a significant risk to its fundamental stability.
Source: Pro Pakistani