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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the recent EU ban on Indian mangoes.

Dan Rogerson

The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pestson imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all Member States including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by Defra.

Protecting plant health is a key Defra objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and Defra officials are liaising with the Indian High Commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.

The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with Tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all Member States, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.

Source: Fera and Europhyt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any alternatives to a full ban on the importation of Indian mangoes were (a) considered by his Department’s officials and (b) put forward to European Commissioners.

Dan Rogerson

The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pestson imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all Member States including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by Defra.

Protecting plant health is a key Defra objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and Defra officials are liaising with the Indian High Commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.

The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with Tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all Member States, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.

Source: Fera and Europhyt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which countries possess comparative levels of fruit fly infestation in exported mangoes and are not subject to an EU ban on importation.

Dan Rogerson

The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pestson imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all Member States including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by Defra.

Protecting plant health is a key Defra objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and Defra officials are liaising with the Indian High Commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.

The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with Tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all Member States, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.

Source: Fera and Europhyt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any phyto-sanitary and plant-disease expertise from the UK has been involved in helping to address the shortcomings identified by the EU Commissioner necessitating the recent ban on importation of mangoes from India.

Dan Rogerson

Defra’s Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) has offered to deliver a technical training programme for Indian Plant Health Inspectors to help address some of the issues raised in the previous European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) audits of the Indian plant health export certification systems. A Plant Health and Seeds Inspector from Fera will be also be assisting the FVO when it undertakes its audit visit to India in September.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes on UK businesses.

Dan Rogerson

The gross annual cost to UK businesses of the European Union ban on importing mangoes from India has been estimated at around £375,000 per year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, (b) National Asian Business Association and (c) other representative organisations or affected businesses to discuss (i) the EU ban on importation of mangoes from India, (ii) any alternatives to a ban and (iii) measures to mitigate the effect of such a ban on UK importers, distributors, retailers and restaurateurs.

Dan Rogerson

Lord de Mauley chaired a roundtable discussion on 21 May with the National Asian Business Association, the Fresh Produce Consortium and the Indian High Commission to discuss the implications of the European Union (EU) ban on mangoes from India and what help the UK might be able to offer India to comply with EU import requirements. Defra officials have also met these bodies and other trade representatives to discuss the issue.