Banana exporters set plans to secure markets
THE Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) is set to meet its foreign business counterparts in a bid to ease tariff and non-tariff restrictions on Philippine bananas to boost market linkages for the country’s top fruit export.
In a statement on Wednesday, PBGEA President Victor Mercado said the banana industry had come up with a fresh set of programs to ensure that the Philippines remains among the world’s top banana exporters.
“The high import tariffs remain the sector’s most pressing concern. Something has to happen soon, which is why we are taking the initiative ourselves to talk to our business partners and government officials overseas to present our case for a more favorable treatment for Philippine bananas,” said Mercado.
Mercado said PBGEA officials would soon hold talks with their business partners in South Korea to ask them to convince their government to come up with a bilateral agreement with the Philippines to lower the tax from 30 to zero percent.
The South Korean market is among the top three destinations for Philippine banana exports. In 2017, about 78.8 percent of South Korean’s Cavendish imports came from the Philippines despite a heavy 30-percent tariff.
PBGEA executive director Stephen Antig is set to go to South Korea by end-November and will later proceed to Japan, another major market for the country’s banana sector, to talk with PBGEA’s business counterparts, and possibly Japanese officials, also on the issue of eliminating tariffs for Philippine bananas.
Other PBGEA executives are also scheduled to go to the Australian capital of Canberra on Nov. 27 to meet with government officials there and raise with them the possibility of allowing Philippine banana exports during the lean months so as not to compete with Australian banana growers.
PBGEA’s market update showed that Philippine bananas remain the best option for Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
However, Alberto Bacani, chairman of PBGEA’s board, said the government should closely look at implementing measures that will make Philippine bananas competitive in the world market.
He pointed out that the issue facing the banana industry today is no longer about companies competing against one another, but the much graver concern of the Philippines having to survive and slug it out against foreign competitors across the globe.
“We, as an industry, should cooperate to ensure that we do not price ourselves out of the market. Our government also should take notice of this fact and find means to help the local banana industry survive and thrive amidst intense world competition and political hurdles,” Bacani said.
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