Despite Japan lifting a 16-year ban on Pakistani mangoes the country will not be able to export any fruit there this year, as it lacks a commercially viable Vapour Heat Treatment (VHT) facility.
The country has one VHT facility in Karachi, which was set up with Japanese assistance, but it only has the capacity to treat 25 kgs of mangoes at a time.
A report in the Business Recorder stated the facility could only process 1-2 tonnes of fruit per day.
Harvest Trading CEO Ahmed Jawad told the newspaper to be commercially viable the facility would need the capacity to process 10 times this volume per day.
According to a report in the News, an official with the Pakistan embassy in Tokyo said he doubted Pakistan would be able to install a VHT plant with an industrial capacity that would meet Japanese standards.
