US Trade Representative ambassador Susan Schwab relishes an Alphonso in Washington DC. File picture

New Delhi, Aug. 30: The US is prepared to trust India with its nukes but not ready to take chances with mangoes.

A government body today warned Indians travelling to the US not to pack their bags with the summer fruit after authorities there voiced concern over food safety.

“Only pre-cleared and certified commercial consignments of irradiated mangoes are allowed to enter the US,” A.S. Rawat, the general manager of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), said in a newspaper advertisement.

Exports of the fruit to the US began this April, the culmination of the now-famous “mango diplomacy”, though the shipments were meant for registered traders only.

But soon, clever travellers, keen to give homesick relatives and friends a taste of India’s most-loved fruit, began squeezing the most out of the juicy breakthrough in trade ties.

Apeda said it had reports that mango kiosks have sprouted near airports to cash in on the urge to pack the fruit in the baggage.

The opening up of mango exports to the US was marked by high-profile events in both countries with top officials tasting the fruit and posing for pictures with them at business events. The US agriculture department has said it expects a surge in Indian mango imports.

The US imported around 200 tonnes of mangoes, worth Rs 2 crore, after the curbs were lifted in April.

Japan-bound fliers should also keep their bags mango-free.

Tokyo, which peeled away its 20-year-old mango ban in June 2006 and bought around 110 to 130 tonnes, insists on stiff safety checks because it found fruit flies in the shipments earlier. China let in the fruit after a gap of three years.

But while the attention is on the US, the country doesn’t figure among the top three buyers of the fruit by value. The UAE tops the list, followed by Bangladesh and the UK. In 2005-06, mango exports to the UAE were worth Rs 73 crore.

Sales to Bangladesh stood at Rs 27 crore and the UK Rs 5 crore. Varieties such as the Alphonso, Kesar, Langra and Chausa are among the most popular.

Efforts are also on to acquire the global indication stamp for the Alphonso. This means that this variety will be legally protected and no other country can name any other mango as Alphonso. These mangoes are grown mainly in the Konkan and Ratnagiri regions.