Two mango treatment facilities in Sindh — Mustafa Agriculture Farm, Kotri, and Iftekhar Ahmed & Co, New Sabzi Mandi, Karachi — have been approved by Australian authorities for export of mangoes from Pakistan by the Australian Department of Water, Agriculture and Environment.
Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood said the approval of the facility has been done just in time for the mango season. “I congratulate the two companies on this achievement and commend the facilitation provided by our consul general (Trade) at Sydney in this regard,” he told dawn.com.
Ashraf stated that the fresh mangoes from Pakistan are permitted for import into Australia subject to the condition the mangoes must undergo pre-export hot water dipping treatment (HWDT) or irradiation treatment in one of the approved facilities.
Up until now, only two facilities — Horti Fresh and Paras Foods — were approved for import into Australia. Pakistan had filed the request for approval of three more facilities around five years ago. After concerted efforts during last year, “we were able to get two facilities approved,” he said. “We hope to have one more approved in the coming weeks.”