As an export strategy, the Bhutan Exporters Association (BEA) will start exporting citrus mandarin (orange) in the last week of November, which is later than the usual export time.
This was decided at the mandarin export coordination meeting yesterday. The strategy is to export ripe and mature oranges, which is expected to improve the market.
BEA president Dorji Tshering said that mandarin export usually started on November 15. This year, they will start from November 25.
“Exporting early means selling unripe oranges that hampered the market,” he said, adding that this time they would allow the citrus to ripe first.
The coordination meeting was organised by BEA and the department of marketing and cooperatives, agriculture ministry. Exporters met with representatives from various sectors such as agriculture, trade, customs, Bhutan Chamber for Commerce and Industry, financial institutions, labour, and thromde from southern region discussed factors related to mandarin export.
The meeting also decided that BEA would seek government intervention to replace some of the idle export items (perishable) under the preferential trade agreement between Bhutan and Bangladesh. Should this proposal come through, other potential items that could be exported to Bangladesh would replace the export items listed under the bilateral trade agreement but remain idle.
