Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) has urged the US to allow sea-shipments of mangoes from Pakistan to make the export process more profitable for Pakistani exporters.
PHDEC said around five tonnes of Pakistani mangoes were exported by air to the US during its debut export season to America this year.
The fruit was so well received that the PHDEC is confident much greater volumes could be exported next season, a spokesman told Fruitnet.com.
But airfreight to the US is expensive and costs exporters around Rs 300 per kg, he said. Shipments by sea would only cost Rs 25 per kg thus making mango export more feasible and profitable.
“Pakistan has been able to deliver successful mango sea shipments to Europe and other markets. We intend to do the same for the US and we are pursuing this with the USDA,” the spokesman said.
When Pakistani mangoes first arrived in the US on July 29, 2011, dignitaries from both countries attended an inaugural event in Chicago – the USDA-approved port of entry.
Only one US airport (Chicago) and one US irradiation facility, Sadex, (several hundred miles away in Iowa) are USDA-approved to receive Pakistani mangoes, making mango distribution to the rest of the US time-consuming and expensive.
PHDEC said USDA approval for Pakistan’s irradiation facility PARAS Foods in Lahore is underway, but the main limiting factor is the high cost of US inspectors stationed at the facility to oversee procedure.
“The only USDA-approved irradiation facility for Pakistani mangoes is Iowa, but negotiations are underway for more,” the spokesman told Fruitnet.com.
“The US has three irradiation facilities around the area where Pakistani mangoes can be marketed, including Florida, but no other irradiation facility has applied for permission to process Pakistani mangoes due to the single port entry restrictions imposed by the USDA,” he added.
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