Karachi: A number of exporters are not following standardised packing for mango exports which started last week.

The Ministry of Commerce, through an SRO in 2013, had clearly defined the weight of standardised packing of the fruit from 1.5-8kg with intervals of 0.5kg and variations in weight on either side.

Chairman All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association Aslam Pakhali had informed Finance Minister Miftah Ismail through a letter on May 23 that this SRO had never been implemented in spirit by the concerned customs authorities since the time it was initiated.

The practice of non-standardised packaging is followed by many exporters, tarnishing the country’s image as the weight stated on the box does not conform to the actual weight. As a result, law-abiding exporters are sustaining financial losses, he said.

Aslam said the compliant exporters are unable to compete with defaulters who manage to sell their export mangoes cheaper in the international market as they pay lower freight cost (less actual weight than stated on the box).

In comparison, exporters following the government order suffer financially as they pay relatively higher cost of air freight due to no discrepancy between the stated actual weights of mangoes.

This unhealthy practice also casts a bad shadow over quality as buyers form a poor impression of consignments being from a particular destination as “B” or “C” category compared to the “A” grade mangoes from competitors like India – Pakistan’s main competitor.

He said the Ministry of Commerce should issue necessary directives to the customs authorities for ensuring strict monitoring and compliance in this regard to differentiate between compliant and non-compliant exporters.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2018