Pakistan should be able to export its irradiated mangoes to the US this season after a year-long hiatus thanks to new flights between the two countries.
Pakistan’s national airline PIA has announced it is reinstating flights to Chicago – this time twice-weekly from Lahore and Islamabad – from June 6, having stopped them last year.
Produce industry body the Pakistan Horticulture Development & Export Company (PHDEC) said it had lobbied PIA for the resumption of Chicago flights on behalf of Pakistani mango growers and exporters.
“We hope our mango growers and exporters would now be able to send mangoes to the US where Pakistani mangoes are liked by Asian expatriates,” said the PHDEC’s Bashir Hussain.
Pakistani mango exports to the US have been beset by irradiation and transport restrictions since they won access to the market in 2010.
To date, only one facility near Chicago (US) is USDA approved to irradiate Pakistani mangoes, and last year the closure of PIA flight Lahore-Barcelona-Chicago resulted in no mango exports from Pakistan.
But Pakistan is now in discussions with the US government about certifying an irradiation plant in Karachi (Pakistan) as well as another US city, according to Waheed Ahmed, chairman of the produce exporters association.
Pakistan produces around 1.6m tonnes of mangoes per year, and harvesting typically starts in late May.
