EU bans Indian mango imports
Anna Sonny, 2 May 2014
The EU has placed a ban on mangoes imported from India after an infestation of fruit flies was found in a shipment of Indian mangoes last year. The ban will be effective from May 1st this year until December 2015, out of fear that the imports could harm European salad crops. The ban has sparked outrage in India and across the UK. According to the Indian newspaper The Economic Times only 6% of fruit and vegetables imported from India in 2013 were found to be contaminated by fruit flies.
Monica Bhandari of London-based wholesaler Fruity Fresh claims the ban is disproportionate, and argues that the EU could have looked into other ways to get rid of the pests instead of placing an outright ban on the mangoes, especially at a time which is peak season for the produce.
Evidence of the fruit’s popularity in the UK came from one grocer in Leicester, who claims to have sold 1,000 crates of Alphonso mangoes – native to India – this Wednesday after news of the ban came.
The ban could have a serious impact on local growers, UK businesses and Britain’s trade relationship with India, which David Cameron himself has been trying to enhance.
Domestic demand for Indian mangoes is so high that most of them don’t get exported – only 8.5% of the UK’s mango imports come from India. Most of the imported mangoes don’t make it to supermarkets as the fleshy fruit can bruise easily in transit and supermarket supply chains are too long, so they are sold to small shops instead. There is widespread concern from small shop owners about millions of pounds that will be lost in revenue – the UK is said to be the EU’s largest consumer of the fruit, importing 16 million mangoes a year, worth about £6.3 million.
This is one of many excessive bans the EU has introduced; there has been outrage in recent years at the EU placing a ban on incandescent light bulbs and the reusing of jam jars, over health and safety concerns.
Regulations such as these, devised within the EU’s centralised sphere of power, can have serious effects on the economies of member states and on their relationships with other countries. These sweeping, unilateral decisions are strong reminders that when the EU takes excessive action, Britain should not have to be subject to it.