Piyush Goyal denies there is any ban on entry of Indian fruits into US market

Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal today denied that there is any ban on entry of Indian fruits into the US market.
Replying to questions in the Lok Sabha, Mr Goyal said India has market access for fruits including banana, pomegranate, mango, watermelon and coconut. He said, however, the export of pomegranate arils was suspended by the US in 2018.
The minister informed the House that export of Indian mangoes and pomegranate fruits was held up since 2020 in the wake of Covid-19 Pandemic as export pre-clearance inspection by the US inspectors could not be carried out due to travel restrictions.
Mr Goyal said in the 12th India-US trade policy Forum meeting held on November 23rd, the US agreed to finalise market access for pomegranate arils . Mr Goyal informed the House that there is no ban on entry of vegetables such as bitter gourd and eggplants from India to the US. He informed India exported 72.57 million US dollar worth of vegetables in 2019-20 and 101.25 million in 2020-21 to US.