The EU lifted an import ban on Indian mangoes Tuesday after nine months in which New Delhi had raged over its forbidden fruit.
Brussels outlawed the mangoes in May after saying it had found pests which could harm European crops in 207 Indian consignments of fruits and vegetables.
But a European Union inspection found that India has since tightened controls and also promised measures to keep bugs out of the fruit.
“The measures will allow the import of mango fruits before the start of the next import season in March 2015,” the European Commission said in a statement.
A ban on bitter gourds, eggplants and snake gourds from India will however remain in place pending evidence of steps to prevent infestation, the EU’s executive said.
India, the world’s largest mango exporter, had threatened to drag the 28-nation EU to the World Trade Organisation over the “arbitrary” ban.
But mango growers in India’s bitter regional rival Pakistan had revelled in it, hoping to take a slice out of India’s market share.
The sweet yellow fruit is a contentious matter regionally, with both countries proclaiming it a national treasure and fighting over whose specimens are superior.
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