Pakistan's Horticulture Development & Export Company (PHDEC) predicts national kinnow exports to Iran will triple this season following Iran's decision to lower its prohibitive kinnow import tax one month earlier than usual, reports the Business Recorder.
The PHDEC said Pakistani kinnow volumes shipped to Iran in 2010/11 could exceed 130,000 tonnes, up from 44,000 exported in 2009/10.
The projected rise is down to Iran relaxing its 90 per cent kinnow import tariff on January 4 instead of the traditional date of February 4.
Iran imposes the 90 per cent import tax to protect its domestic mandarin producers.
According to the Business Recorder, Iran completely lifted Pakistani kinnow import duties on January 4, allowing the fruit to enter Iran tariff-free. But press reports last week said Iran had dropped the tariff to 4 per cent.
Pakistan ranks as the sixth largest kinnow producer in the world, according to the Business Recorder. The season runs from November to March.
