Chinese garlic has again sneaked into local markets of India and has been making headlines. The Indian government had banned the import, sale and transport of Chinese garlic in 2014 after reports of fungus-infected garlic came to light.

Why has Allahabad High Court Prompted Action?

According to the reports, Chinese garlic is available and openly sold in markets of Uttar Pradesh despite the ban.

The matter came into public domain after an advocate, named Motilal Yadav initiated a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) over Chinese garlic. He brought half-kilograms of Chinese garlic in the court that he purchased from Chinhat Market as evidence to ongoing sale of Chinese garlic. He advocated for strong and immediate action against illegal sale of garlic in the state. The PIL stated that the garlic is easily available in the market and central government is failing to ensure that it’s sold throughout the country.

In view of this, Allahabad High Court has summoned the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department officer of UP government over this. The court has further directed the Deputy Solicitor General of India, Surya Bhan Pandey, to seek instructions regarding the mechanism to prevent such banned items from entering the country.

Why Was The Chinese Garlic Banned?

The government had taken this step to protect the Indian consumers and farmers from consuming infected garlic. It was reported that the garlic contained high level of pesticides which could pose serious health risks to the consumers. It failed to meet the quality standard. Chinese garlic is widely grown in China and used in variety of Asian dishes.

China is known to be the largest producer of garlic and it’s mostly produced in Shandong. Jinxiang province is called as the world’s garlic capital. Chinese garlic is generally white and pink in colour and smaller in size. They have milder aroma in comparison to Indian garlic.

The comparatively lower prices of the Chinese garlic also posed great threat to Indian garlic growing farmers. It led to financial losses.

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