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.