Nepal has banned imports of Indian mangoes after excessive levels of chemical pesticide were found in imported shipments. The decision followed findings by the country's border quarantine inspectors of pesticide above permitted limits in mango consignments from India.

Nepali authorities say the move will benefit domestic fruit growers. Manish Kumar Pal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Madhesh Province, told the Nepali newspaper The Rising Nepal that the ban on Indian mangoes had created new opportunities for comparatively healthier locally grown fruit.

He said the federal government's decision would further encourage local production and give citizens access to healthy and safe fruit.

The biggest importers of Indian mangoes are the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. Nepal is not a large market for Indian mangoes, but the pesticide complaint has again put India's fruit production system under question.

Last month Japan, for the first time in nearly two decades, banned imports of India's Kesar, Alphonso, Langra and Banganapalli mangoes.

The decision came after a Japanese inspection team found various irregularities at Indian production and processing centres. During an inspection in Rehmanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in March, Japanese quarantine officials found shortcomings in fumigation and disinfection arrangements.

The report was based on ThePrint.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.