MURRAYA KOENIGII
More than three years since UAE banned import of curry leaves from India, the product is easily available in the country, thanks to smuggling of the leaves from neighbouring Oman. Curry leaves, used in many Indian dishes, had been banned in the UAE after consignments from India were found to have more than the accepted level of pesticide.
“Indian curry leaves were banned after our inspectors found more than the accepted level of pesticide. A few shipments were regularly monitored after a serious food poisoning case in Al Qusais in Dubai in which a few children died. Our investigation found that the food last consumed by the victims had curry leaves that contained more than the allowed level of pesticide,” says a local municipality official from Dubai.
Dubai Municipality officials inspected and fined many vegetable traders for illegally selling smuggled Indian curry leaves but the trade continues to flourish.
A box of curry leaves costing Dh150 is sold for Dh200 and Dh250 and even after paying a fine of Dh2,500, traders make good money.
Since then there has been no change in the government’s policy and some vegetable traders stopped import Indian curry leaves and switched to curry leaves from Sri Lanka. Between 500 kg to one tonne of curry leaves were sold in the UAE per day before the ban.
After Dubai Municipality banned import of Indian curry leaves, its price shot up in the market and traders began smuggling the leaves through Oman and mixing Indian curry leaves with the Sri Lankan variety.
“The price of a kilo of curry leaves is now Dh30 and a small packet costs Dh 3. The price was only Dh 10 per kilo before the ban. Now traders spend Dh4500 to bring one trailer of curry leaves into the UAE through the Oman border. First, they import the leaves to Oman and from there it is brought to the UAE through the land borders. The curry leaves are hidden inside the trailers and kept with other vegetables to avoid being seen by inspectors,” said a trader.
Vegetable vendors don’t sell the leaves inside their shops but keep the boxes of leaves inside parked containers or trailers to avoid being seen by health inspectors. Indian curry leaves coming to the UAE are grown in Tamil Nadu state and brought to Kerala for export through the airports there.
Since it takes four to five days for the product to reach here, traders or farmers use strong pesticides to preserve the aroma and green colour of the curry leaves. While some grocery owners and traders are not aware of the health hazards involved, others are doing it knowingly to cater to customer demand. “Even though Sri Lankan curry leaves are available, nobody is buying it because it does not have the strong aroma of Indian curry leaves. People who are used to Indian curry leaves won’t use alternative products,” said a trader in Sri Lankan curry leaves in Dubai.
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