China imports Pak mangoes, setback for Indian traders.

BEIJING: China has begun importing Pakistani mangoes with the first major shipment leaving Karachi recently, reports quoting an exporter in Pakistan said.

The move is seen as a setback to Indian exporters, who were hoping that a recent India-China agreement on import of mangoes to China would benefit them. The agreement allowing import of Indian mangoes came after nine years of deliberation on both sides.

The two governments had signed the protocol of phytosanitary requirements for exporting mangoes from India to China during then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China in 2003."The first shipment of 40 tons of mangoes is being exported to China in two 40 feet containers valued at $60,000," Pakistani media quoted A Q Khan Durrani, chief executive officer of exporting firm, Durrani Associates, as saying.

He said China could soon become the biggest market for Pakistani mangoes.The move comes years after the China government cleared Pakistani mangoes for import. But China has been reluctant to import vast quantities from Pakistan by sea until now. Only small amounts of mangoes are sent through the ,more expensive air route from Pakistan to China. Over 11 countries supply mangoes to China.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com