Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 March, the EU imposed a ban on imports to Europe of five types of fruits and vegetables from India. The products targeted by this import ban, which was decided upon by the experts of the Standing Committee of the EU on Plant Health, are as follows: Colocasia sp (taro, eddo ), Mangifera sp (Mango), Momordica sp (bitter gourd), Solanum melongena (aubergine) and Trichosanthes (snake gourd, a plant of the Cucurbitaceae family).
The European protection measures prohibit the import of some fruits and vegetables from India in order to tackle the significant shortcomings in the phytosanitary certification system of such products exported to the EU. This decision had to be taken due to a high number of such consignments being intercepted at arrival in the EU and found to be containing quarantine pests (such as non-European fruit flies). Although the prohibited commodities represent less than 5% of the total fresh fruits and vegetables imported into the EU from India, “the potential introduction of new pests could pose a threat EU agriculture and production”, the Commission explains in a press release.
These pests were found in 207 consignments of fruit and vegetables from India imported into the EU in 2003. The measures will apply from May onwards, with a review to take place before 31 December 2015. (LC)