New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan has raised the issue of the European Union's ban on mangoes with the British High Commissioner who met him on Tuesday. Sources say that Radha Mohan expressed serious concerns on being singled out in Asia.
A high-powered team of scientific experts from the European Commission will visit India in September to check measures put in place by the country in order to help lift the EU ban on the import of Indian mangoes. This was confirmed to Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz, who visited Brussels on Wednesday and met Dacian Ciolos, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, and other senior officials.
The EU's "temporary ban", supported by DeFRA, came into force on May 1 and was to remain effective until December 2015 after authorities in Brussels found consignments infested with fruit flies that they feared could damage European salad crops.
Vaz said that the election of the new Indian government under Narendra Modi serves as the perfect occasion to put right this wrong.
"The EU would be foolish not to want to support a deal with the country with the fastest growing economy in the world. Britain needs to do more. I've written to Prime Minister David Cameron to ask that British officials go to India to help with ensuring that all outstanding matters have been dealt with before the delegation arrives," he said.
(With additional information from PTI)
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