Government in talks with EU on import ban of vegetables from India

NEW DELHI: Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has taken up the issue of temporary prohibition on import of certain fresh vegetables like taro plant and brinjal with the EU, Parliament was informed today.

The European Union had placed a temporary prohibition on import of mangoes and certain fresh vegetables like taro plant, brinjal, bitter gourd and snake gourd from India with effect from April 2014.

Ban on imports of mangoes has been lifted from February this year.

For lifting of ban on the other items, APEDA, an autonomous organisation under the department of Commerce, has "taken up the issue with EU authorities through the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has sent a detailed action plan to address the concerns raised by the EU and requested them to lift the ban, she said.

She also said that Saudi Arabia too has imposed a ban on import of green chilly from India.

Replying to a separate question on trade, she said the trade negotiating committee of bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) met in September.

BIMSTEC is a regional organisation comprising seven member states in the Bay of Bengal region. The region brings together 1.5 billion people, 22 per cent of the world population, and a combined GDP of over $2.5 trillion.