Australian government has accorded permission for import of Pakistani mangoes after ‘Hot Water Treatment’ by Pakistan Hortifresh Processing (Pvt) limited, a joint venture of Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) and private sector.
An official notification from the Australian government in this regard has been received during Eid holidays (August 8 to 10). Pakistan Hortifresh Processing (Pvt) Ltd Karachi is the only processing facility approved by DAFF Australia for import of Pakistani mangoes after Hot Water Treatment (HWT).
Australia imports around 20,000 tons of mangoes annually. The opening of Australian market for Pakistani mangoes would help the government to fetch much sought precious foreign exchange as mangoes would fetch US $7 to 10 per kilograms from this high end market. This was announced by PHDEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bashir Hussain and Durrani Associates’ Chief Executive A Q Khan Durrani at a joint press conference here on Saturday.
He said Australia currently imported mangoes from many countries and preferred irradiation method for quarantine requirement but after visiting Hortifresh, it allowed to import mangoes from Pakistani after Hot Water Treatment method. The PHDEC CEO said that this national goal of adding one more lucrative market for Pakistan’s exotic mangoes has been achieved through the collective efforts of all concerned, however it could not have been possible without the valuable contribution of Durrani Associates, Karachi.
Bashir Hussein said that PHDEC has ardently followed its mandate of identification and diversification of new markets for Pakistan’s fresh fruits and vegetables. In recent years PHDEC has been able to open USA, South Korea, Lebanon and Mauritius for Pakistani mangoes. During the current mango season PHDEC has also successfully displayed Pakistani mangoes in Sofia (Bulgaria) which will prove a central hub for promotion of Pakistani mangoes in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Black Sea region.
However, he said Australia and Korean markets are two high end markets which could fetch more money for exporters. The opening of these markets was made possible by improving mango supply chain where PHDEC closely worked together with growers, exporters, and other related organisations to improve the supply chain management of mango from farm to fork, in accordance with required SPS compliances.
Durrani speaking on this occasion said that there is a dire need to improve the infrastructure and make our product compliant to world standards to ensuring presence in high end markets of the world. He said presently out of 100,000 tons annual export of mangoes from Pakistan, 40 percent goes to Dubai from where our exporters could only earn US $1 to 1.5 per kilograms.
He claimed that last year UK rejected 123 mango consignments and this year till date it had rejected 137 consignments and mango export season is still in progress. He said they are making efforts that a small consignment of two tons of mangoes should be dispatched to Australia by August 25, to capitalise the opportunity and showcase the Pakistani fruit to Australian consumers.
