Sweet Indian summer

The summer may be sweeter for Indians as the European Union ban on the delicacy Alphonso (and four vegetables) has led to a glut in the domestic market already. The reasons for the ban on the mango variety run deep and involve intricacies of bilateral trade in the face of vast differences over import rules in the advanced countries as well as in India.

The issue may seem to defy immediate solution as the gulf is vast in standards of packaging. Several measures have to be taken in India if exporters are not to suffer. Trade in mangoes and vegetables may not amount to too much — mangoes fetch about £6 million from the UK — but the underlying principles are not only significant but also vital for international trade.

European importers claim pests like the tobacco whitefly and fruit flies, besides pesticide residues, exceed set limits. Claims of unfair treatment of Indian traders have been heard, including from Indian-origin MPs in Britain, but we do know that huge problems exist in our export infrastructure where standards of inspection and quarantine are not ideal.

India’s balance of trade needs all the help it can get. While negotiations must go on to get the ban upturned, India must also gear up trade to meet the more exacting standards expected in the export of perishable goods. How can we deny the world the sweet taste of the Alphonso just for our inability to send them out clean? We don’t want the famous Nagpur oranges to suffer the same fate as the Alphonsos either.