RP food industry plans to ban Aussie products
RP food industry plans to ban Aussie products
MANILA (Dow Jones): The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. said Friday it is set to boycott all food and live animal imports from Australia, but didn't say when it would start the boycott.
The chamber is an umbrella group of Philippine agricultural buyers and producers and food manufacturers.
Eduardo Rondain, PCAFI's secretary general, said in a press statement Friday the group is asking private food chambers in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia to launch an "Asean-wide, private-sector-led protest action against Australia's unfair trade practices." The countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean.
Rondain criticized Australia's insistence on subjecting Philippine pineapple and bananas to rigorous pest risk analysis.
He said other agribusiness firms in the region are also complaining about Australia's quarantine procedures and strict phytosanitary standards, but didn't specify the firms.
"The move would virtually halt the import shipment of over $350 million worth of Australian dairy products, live animals, cereals, meat, sugar, fruits, many of which are used by local firms as raw materials in their food processing businesses," he said.
In 1999, the Philippines imported $388.7 million worth of dairy products, live animals, cereals, sugar and meat from Australia. In contrast, the Philippines only exported $17.2 million worth of farm produce to Australia.
This resulted in a $371.5 million trade gap, which has been a cause of concern for the Philippine government and private-sector officials, who are relying on bananas and pineapples to bring in bigger export revenue.
The Philippine Department of Agriculture had earlier encouraged the local meat sector to stop buying dairy, meat and live animals from Australia because the latter has banned the entry of Philippine fruits into its market.
The department said it had garnered the support of other Asean governments, claiming that they too are suffering from Australia's stringent requirements for imported food.