Iran’s sudden increase of tariffs on imported Pakistani kinnow mandarins has been just as suddenly dropped, according to an announcement yesterday by the Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Company (PHDEC).
Tariff levels have dropped to their former levels of US$400 per tonnes, down from the increased rate of US$1300 per tonne.
Negotiations between the Iranian authorities and the PHDEC, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commercial Section yielded the reversal, according to the announcement.
The PHDEC is also coordinating a meeting between the Iranian ambassador and leading kinnow growers and exporters.
Speaking to Fruitnet.com yesterday, the PHDEC’s CEO Shamoon Sadiq said Iran is the largest market for Pakistani kinnows, with official exports sitting at around 40,000 tonnes annually and a further 15,000-20,000 tonnes crossing the border without being recorded.
“It will have a very big impact,” he said, speaking before the announcement of the tariff reduction was made. “It will have a big effect on both the exporters and the packing houses.”
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