The US rejected 15 shipments of Indian mangoes at Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta airports. This has caused a loss of more than Rs 4 crore to exporters. Citing irregularities in the paperwork of mangoes, US officials have ordered them to be destroyed or sent back. Exporters said that mangoes are a perishable crop and the cost of return was high, so they were destroyed in the US itself. Why was the shipment of mangoes stopped? Irradiation process is mandatory for importing fruits to the US. In this process, the germs of the fruits are killed. After the process, the PPQ203 form (pest control certificate) is issued to the exporter. In India, this process takes place in a plant located in Navi Mumbai under the supervision of USDA (US Department of Agriculture). The PPQ203 form was issued after the treatment of mangoes from here on May 8-9. When the shipment reached the US, the officials found errors in the documents. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the PPQ203 form was filled incorrectly, due to which the shipment was rejected. But this mistake was not related to the presence of pests, but was caused by errors in filling the form. Exporters said – had to pay the price for the plant’s mistakes Exporters say that they have to pay the price for the mistakes of the irradiation plant. A trader said, PPQ203 form is issued by USDA officials only. If the treatment had not been done, then this form would not have been available. If there is a mistake, the shipment does not get cleared from Mumbai airport. Another trader told that his consignment was stopped at Los Angeles airport between 9-11 May and later an order was received to destroy it. The trader says that we followed all the rules, yet we had to suffer losses. Exporters suffer loss of 5 lakh dollars Due to this incident, the traders have suffered a loss of about 5 lakh dollars (about 4.2 crores rupees). America is a big market for Indian mangoes. In the case, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said that the matter is related to the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB), contact them. MSAMB has not given any reply in the matter. Traders’ concerns increased due to rejection of shipment. The US Department of Agriculture has said that traders will have to bear the cost of sending back or destroying the consignments. The US Customs Department (CBP) said that the PPQ203 forms were issued “incorrectly” and do not meet the entry requirements. After this incident, traders are questioning the quality processes of Indian mangoes and there is a fear of such an incident happening again in the future.
