A+ | A- Pakistan: Quality issues having a huge impact on fruit - TopicsExpress

A+ | A- Pakistan: Quality issues having a huge impact on fruit export This year, Pakistan is expected to fare badly in fruit exports to Dubai and the UK. A consignment of 50 tons of fruit sent to the UK has been rejected on the grounds that it was infected with fruit fly. Until June 21 in fiscal year 2012-13, 28,700 tons of fruit had been exported, but much of this was destroyed because of quality issues. Recent trade data reflects the spill-over effects on the growth of Pakistan’s exports. Geographically, the EU and the US represent the most important destinations for exports and their markets absorb 31% and 23% of shipments from Pakistan. Therefore, slowdown in US and European economies and weak demand have significantly impacted export growth. China is the third most important destination for Pakistan with an 11.5% share. Recently, UAE, Afghanistan, Oman and Turkey have also become important destinations. Exports in the first 10 months (July-April) reached $20.147 billion, up 4.2% from $19.329 billion in the same period of previous year. Of the total, the export of food group rose 12.3%, textile group 6.1% and other manufactures 8.7%.