Australia sets strict conditions for entry of Phl bananas

MANILA, Philippines -  Australia continues to put obstacles against the entry of Philippines bananas to the Australian market.

Stephen Antig, executive director of the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), said most of the sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) requirements outlined by Biosecurity Australia may be possible to comply with. But there are two main requirements that will be very difficult for Philippine growers to comply with.

These are that the bananas for export should have eight leaves prior to harvest, and that non-perforated plastic bags should be used to pack the product.

Maria Emilia Rita Fabregar, also of PBGEA, explained the difficulty in the bagging issue. She pointed out that Filipino farmers use perforated plastic bags because of the heat build-up that affects the ripening and quality of the fruit.

Fabregar said Biosecurity Australia should be made aware of the differences in the climatic conditions between the Philippines and Australia.

On the requirement for eight leaves, Fabregar said the standard in the Philippines is only five leaves.

Filipino banana growers have repeatedly failed to get the approval of Australian authorities to allow the entry of Philippine bananas to Australia.

There is a strong lobby from Australian banana growers against the entry of Philippine bananas to Australia.

Because of the continued refusal of Australia to allow access to their market, the Philippine government filed on Oct. 17, 2002 with the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body a case against Australia for its de facto ban on Philippine bananas.

The case had not been resolved to this day.

Banana growers have been trying to export Cavendish bananas to Australia as far back as 1995. Banana growers have been eyeing the Australian market because of it’s proximity to the Philippines and the attractive price in that market.

However, Australia imposes strict requirements for the entry of agricultural products, and many countries have failed to gain access to the Australian market because of the stringent requirements.

Australian agricultural authorities use an import risk analysis or IRA issued by Biosecurity Australia, the agency that screens applications for gaining entry into the Australian market, to assess the safety of foreign agricultural imports.

Biosecurity Australia had delayed the issuance of the IRA and continues repeatedy to impose conditionalities.