India's prized Alphonso mangoes will be treated with "hot water" as
part of procedures to remove any contaminants like fruit flies before
being exported to Europe, especially Britain, where they have a large
market, a top EU trade official said.
Maurizio Cellini, First
Counsellor, Head of Trade and Economic Affairs team of the European
Union to India, told IANS that among the procedures India has to abide
by to export mangoes to the 28-member bloc is of treating fruit with hot
water.
Cellini also said that while the mango has been allowed
for export, the ban on four other Indian products - eggplant, bitter
gourd (karela), taro plant (arbi) and snake gourd (chichinda) - has not
been lifted.
The EU had last May slapped a ban on the Indian
mango and the vegetables following concerns over contamination, mainly
from non-European fruit flies. The European Commission voted to lift the
ban on Indian mangoes in late January and the final decision was taken
on Valentine's Day Feb 14.
Cellini said a number of controls have been put in place by India, including some conditions for the packaging.
"There
has been a commitment by India to treat mangoes with hot water, which
was an additional requirement which is apparently important in order to
guarantee that the products are free of contaminants like mosquitoes,
insects which may come with the fruit," Cellini told IANS.
"I
know that Indian mangoes are very popular in Britain, so there will be
strong export to Britain; other European countries import mangoes from
Africa and Brazil," he added.
Regarding the other four
vegetables, he said India has not been able to provide the necessary
guarantees yet that the packaging and treatment would be done in a way
to eliminate the insects.
"Our experts came to India and made an
inspection a few months ago. The result of the inspection was that
things were making progress for the mango but for the other products
they were not there at the right point," he added.
On the
dragging India-EU free trade agreement negotiations that have been going
on since 2007 but are stuck on certain niggling issues, Cellini said
that EU is fully committed to negotiations and if completed "it would be
a boost to the European Union and to India alike.
"There are
some difficult points still to discuss and we need to get back to the
table and see whether India is willing to consider certain sensitive
points of the negotiation which for the EU are important.
"If we
see positive signals, I'm sure the negotiations can continue and we are
hoping to reach a mutually satisfactory solution in a short time," he
added.
The negotiations are stuck over the EU demand for duty cut
on European automobiles, auto components and wines and spirits. India
has been asking for greater access to the European markets, mainly the
UK and Germany for its professionals.
Cellini also said the EU
can contribute to the Narendra Modi government's initiatives like Make
in India, Smart Cities, infrastructure and renewable energy.
"Europe
is very advanced; We have the right technology and right solutions and
we think cooperation in this area could be mutually beneficial," he
said.
On the Modi government's Make in India initiative, Cellini
said the initiative signals improvement in ease of doing business, in
transparency and in predictability, reforms in taxation system, and
improvement in the general business climate.
"If this is done
then I am pretty sure the EU companies, multinationals and small and
medium enterprises will be encouraged to come to India to do business.
It is important that these reforms become a reality and are translated
into real facts and realised and that life for entrepreneurs becomes
easier in India. If that happens I'm sure that activity of EU business
will increase in India," Cellini told IANS.
He said the
government's initiatives signal good business sentiment. "Business
sentiment is a good thing, but you still have to be convinced to make
the investment and to take action; probably we are not there yet but the
sentiment is certainly positive and has improved, compared to a few
months ago.
"The outlook is good, let's wait another few months
maybe in order to see all this becomes real; I think it takes some time,
the government is not in place for a very long time.. Reforms are not
done in a day," he added.
(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at [email protected])
