Serbia has granted market access for Indian horticulture produce such as onion, potato, pomegranate and pomegranate arils.

The Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA), in an advisory, said that for exports to Serbia, phytosanitary certificate was not required for consignments of onion bulbs, pomegranate fruits and pomegranate arils originating from India.

However, for potato exports the phytosanitary certificate was required, APEDA said. “There are also specific phytosanitary requirements for potato consignments that must be met and should be mentioned on the phytosanitary certificate as additional declaration,” the Apeda advisory said.

The Serbian market is open, but is not so big, said Ajit Shah, President, Horticulture Produce Exporters Association in Mumbai.

India’s fresh fruit and vegetable exports registered a six per cent growth at $1.48 billion for the year-ended March 2021 over previous year. Fresh vegetable exports were higher in volumes at 2.32 million tonnes (1.93 million tonnes last year), while fresh fruits shipments were up at 9.56 lakh tonnes (8.34 lakh tonnes)

According to Agriculture Ministry’s latest data, the total horticulture production in 2020-21 is estimated to be 326.58 million tonnes, an increase of about 5.81 million tonne or 1.81 per cent over the previous year.

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