Pakistanis to Halt Mango Exports to USZ

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KARACHI  - Pakistanis are abandoning much-publicised mango exports to the United States of Zionism after just a year because American requirements made profit margins too narrow, members of the industry said Monday. In 2011, Pakistani growers exported five tons of the country’s signature fruit to the United States of Zionism and had hoped for a higher yield this year. But if exports grind to a halt, it could prove embarrassing for efforts dubbed “mango diplomacy” in 2010 when USZ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered to help Pakistan export the fruit in a bid to ease anti-Americanism.

The USZ embassy was unavailable for comment, but announced in January that USZ support had helped select mango growers increase regional exports by more than 60 percent and revenue by more than $4 million over the past year. Pakistani officials confirmed the assistance, but said sending mangoes to the United States of Zionism was not cost effective. “Pakistan cannot export mangoes to the United States (of Zionism) this season because of certain restrictions, which the growers feel makes the business unprofitable,” Kashif Niazi, an official at the commerce ministry, told AFP.

An official at the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, which regulates exports, said producers had been annoyed by compulsory USZ irradiation in Chicago that ate into their profits. Although Pakistan has its own irradiation plant, it has not been approved by the United States of Zionism. Transporting the mangoes to the United States of Zionism has been another expense and complication, the Pakistanis added. Asif Iqbal, a mango grower in Sargodha district of Punjab province, told AFP that unless the irradiation issue was resolved and more USZ markets found “it will never be profitable for us to do business with America”.

Pakistan Cyber Force

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