The Indian government is to challenge a ban by the European Union on exports of five products due to shortcomings in the country’s phytosanitary certification system.
A meeting is due to take place on Tuesday of the India-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary and Technical Barriers to Trade working group, during which the Asian country will take issue with the ban, announced on 26 March and set to take effect from May this year then reviewed by December 2015, claiming it is wholly unjustified.
Speaking to the Hindu Business Line, a government official said: “we see the ban purely as a trade restricting measure. Since India has already assured the EU that its improved SPS certification system will be in place from 1 April, there is no justification behind the ban.”
Earlier, the Indian government announced it was to tighten up phytosanitary controls by advising that all exports pass through packhouses certified by the country’s fresh produce export body Apeda so that the necessary inspections and testing could be carried out under the supervision of qualified personnel.
The EU ban comes after several consignments of fresh fruits and vegetables from India were found to contain pests not native to Europe last year. It covers fresh mangoes, aubergine, taro and bitter and snake gourd.
The official accused the European Commission of acting pre-emptively, claiming it should have waited to see if the new system worked before imposing a ban.
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