Japan open to lower tariffs on bananas
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2019 08:55:01 +0000
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol flew to Japan to ask Japanese officials to settle long-standing issues on banana tariffs as well as widen market access for Philippine agricultural products. He is at least bringing home a promise.
On Wednesday, Piñol met with Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Takamori Yoshikawa (MAFF) on a one-on-one engagement in the MAFF Headquarters in Tokyo.
And according to Piñol, the Japanese government “appeared” to have softened its stand on long-standing issues on tariffs concerning Philippine bananas that enter Japan, among other issues, especially a week after President Duterte met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a friendly bilateral engagement.
Yoshikawa also “promised” to fast-track the processing of documents and requirements related to the issues raised by the Philippine government during Duterte’s visit.
It is not clear yet, however, if Japan 100 percent agreed on what the Philippines has requested such as the reduction of tariffs on Philippine bananas that enter the East Asian country.
Right now, Japan is one of the countries where imported bananas from the Philippines are taxed heavily.
The Philippines is particularly requesting lower tariff on local Cavendish banana being exported to Japan from a range of eight percent to 18 percent to zero tariff.
In November last year, a group of Filipino banana exporters sought to have a dialogue with their respective business counterparts abroad as well as foreign government officials including the Japanese in an attempt to secure the country’s global market share for banana.
Banana is one of the Philippines’ major fruit crops, producing more than 2 million metric tons (MT) every quarter of the year.
A data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that of the country’s total banana production, Cavendish variety always record the highest output. During the first quarter of this year, output for Cavendish bananas stood at 1.20 million MT, representing 56.6 percent of the total banana production in the period.
Piñol also discussed with Yoshikawa the quarantine issue on the country’s banana exports.
The Philippines is particularly seeking an exemption from 100 percent inspection of banana exporting companies which are compliant to the Minimum Residue Level (MRL) of chemicals set by Japanese health authorities.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association Inc. (PBGEA), a group of banana exporters from the Philippines, said they are compliant to such requirement as they raised their concerns that 100 percent testing requirement could hurt Philippine exports by slowing down the trade.
Other things that the two agriculture ministers have discussed are the fast-tracking of the market access for Philippine avocado and the recognition by Japan of the Philippines’ status as a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Free country. (Madeleine Miraflor)