Air freight hike irks mango exporters

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Abbas Ali
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Air freight hike irks mango exporters

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BY JAVED MIRZA

KARACHI (July 05 2006):
The hike in fuel surcharge on air cargo, which has resulted in higher freight charges, has irked the fruit and vegetable exporters of the country. A leading horticulture exporter and chairman of fruit and vegetable exporters association, Mateen Siddiqui said that fuel surcharge has risen to Rs 17 from Rs 03 during the past two years which along with other costs has resulted in higher freight charges.

Mateen said that various cargo companies were demanding fuel surharge ranging from Rs 17 to Rs 20 and there was no government check or control on this levy.

"This is the peak mango exporting season and we do not get enough space to dispatch this perishable item by air to the optimum level," he said.

Talking to Business Recorder, Mateen Siddiqui said that there were only 14 international flights a day operating from Karachi, which was an insufficient number to fully accommodate the export of horticulture exports particularly in peak season. Due to higher aviation charges, inflationary trend in fuel surcharge and other taxes, several airlines including KLM and British Airways had ended their cargo operations from Pakistan and those still operating had limited their flights, Mateen claimed.

Last year 12000 tonnes of mango were airlifted to different destinations, he said and added that this year the quantity would be much less. "The mango is currently being exported via sea to nearby destinations including Dubai, Iran and other Gulf States but for distant destinations airlifting is the better option," he said.

To face this situation some exporters tried to use the sea route for exporting mango to Europe but it did not work well, as this is a perishable item and a longer voyage could destroy the product. And if the fruit were dispatched before it is ripe, the artificial ripping would adversely affect the quality of the commodity.

Mateen asked the authorities concerned to maintain a uniform rate and provide incentives to the horticulture exporters instead of over-burdening them.

Source: Business Recorder
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