ASEAN supports Philippine gripe with Australia

ASEAN supports Philippine gripe with Australia

MANILA (Dow Jones): Philippine Assistant Agriculture Secretary Segfredo Serrano said Monday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries have agreed to support the Philippines' complaint against Australia's ban of Philippine fruits.

"The Philippines will prepare a paper that will detail our complaint against Australia. We will present this paper to international trading bodies like the World Trade Organization and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. ASEAN countries have agreed to support this paper," Serrano said at a press conference.

Serrano, who recently met with ASEAN ministers of agriculture and forestry, said Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia also are having a hard time exporting their farm products to Australia.

Separately, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angaro said Monday in a press briefing that the Philippines may opt to drop out from the Cairns Group. The Cairns Group is made up of agricultural-products-exporting countries who lobbied for the inclusion of farm products in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

"Local farmers' groups are pressuring the Philippine government to withdraw from the Cairns Group because it's headed by Australia. Australia doesn't practice fair trade, so it's an option that we're studying," he said.