PHL's maiden shipment of bananas to US remains on hold

The Philippines is still waiting for the US government to sign the work plan for the maiden shipment of 3,000 metric tons of Cavendish bananas, which was targeted to take place in April, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) said. The shipment hasn't happened until now because "there is no formal signing yet," director Clarito M. Baron told GMA News Online. "For signing pa by US government ang work plan... with DA na 'yung administrative order for the shipment, which has a volume of 3000 MT," the Plant Bureau director noted. "We have to wait for the US to sign the work plan" before any shipment is approved, said Barron. Dole Philippines Inc. was supposed to export 3,000 MT of bananas to the US as a test shipment last December, but Typhoon Pablo destroyed many banana plantations in Mindanao that the maiden was rescheduled for April 2013. The US is one of the Top 20 importers of bananas, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization. Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data showed bananas as the Philippines' second biggest agriculture exports after coconut oil. The Philippines exports Cavendish to China, Russia, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan and the Middle East. — VS, GMA News