The US is ready to sort out the long-pending problem of pre-shipment inspection of farm products which has impeded exports of fruits including mangoes from India.

“Technical teams from the US will visit India over the next few months to inspect the packaging process and pre-shipment handling of fruits such as mangoes, litchis, pomegranates and grapes and give prior approval for smooth exports process,” a Government official told BusinessLine .

Stringent rules

While the US already buys mangoes, pomegranates and litchis, exports are low because of stringent pre-shipment rules of the US Agriculture Department which stipulate that consignments be inspected by US quality inspectors prior to shipment from Indian ports. There are also inflexible irradiation norms for fruits that exporters find difficult to fulfil. Of the total agriculture products worth over $100 billion imported by the US every year, India’s share is miniscule.

India has long suggested that the responsibility of the pre-clearance inspection and oversight operation for fruits such as mangoes should be shifted to the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO).

Once the US agrees to it, it will not have to send its inspectors to inspect each time consignments are to be shipped out, adding to the costs further.

Bilateral meeting

The decision to send inspecting teams to approve India’s over-all pre-shipment processes for fruits was taken at a recent video conference meeting between the US Department of Agriculture and the Commerce and Agriculture Ministries from India.

This followed a bilateral meeting on plant health last month where US agreed to India’s demand that efforts be made to recognise India’s pre-shipment processes. The EU has already approved packaging and pre-shipment inspection process put in place by the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority, following which it withdrew a prior ban on import of mangoes from India.

“We are positive that the US, too, would approve our processes. It has recently agreed to start importing grapes from India after the country supplied it sufficient information on pest risk analysis.

Problems related to Basmati exports have also been sorted out,” the official said.

Packaging norms

India also asked the US to enhance the quota for export of tobacco beyond 3,000 tonnes so that its share could increase.

The US, on its part, asked India to make its packaging norms for food items more flexible to allow weight of food items in pints and ounces instead of kilograms and grams.

India said that it could not do away with its regulation as it followed the global metric convention, but the US could print the weight in both.

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