India to halt imports of Chinese apples and pears after they fail pesticide tests

The Dollar Business Bureau

India has issued a directive to halt the imports of Chinese apples and pears from June 1. According to a statement made by the Ministry of Agriculture, the recent imports of Chinese apples and pears contained harmful microorganisms.

Indian National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) reported that 26 batches of Chinese pears and apples were contaminated and the same was conveyed to the Chinese Inspection and Quarantine Bureau on May 31. A second batch of apples and pears from China once again revealed harmful microorganisms. Since no action was taken to remedy the situation, the Indian government decided to temporarily halt the import of apples and pears from that country starting from June.

NPPO revealed the presence of  Pseudococcus Comstocki and Fusarium Oxysporum two harmful microorganisms that cause disease to the fruits and trees.

The Indian side had also communicated to the Chinese exporters on March 31 to provide measures to resolve the contaminants issue and reveal the approval process undertaken by the Chinese fruit export packaging factories. There was no response from the Chinese ministry on the same. In a letter dated May 1, the Joint Secretary in India’s Ministry of Agriculture had conveyed the same to the Chinese authorities.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, India imported $117.40 million worth of apples and $14.80 million worth of pears from China between Apr-Feb of 2016-17. India imported more than $3,40902 worth of apples during this period. Experts opine the temporary constraints to China’s exports of fruits and pears is an attempt to control the deluge of these fruits entering the Indian market and as June is the peak-supply-window period for China it would affect its apple industry commercially.