PHL bananas pass Chinese quarantine, says Agri Dept.

Up to 170 40-foot container vans of fresh bananas from the Philippines have already entered the Chinese market as of May 23,  Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture said Thursday.

 

“The latest report we received from our pest quarantine team in Beijing is that around 170 40-foot container vans of bananas were granted entry by the Chinese Plant Quarantine Office,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said in an interview with reporters.

 

The shipments were found clean and bereft of any pest, particularly the contentious scale insect that Chinese authorities claimed they found in previous shipments, Alcala noted.

 

The Agriculture Department sent three plant quarantine experts to China upon invitation of the Plant Quarantine Office to inspect the contested cargo as well as incoming shipments of Philippine bananas.

 

About four days ago up to 40 40-foot container vans of Philippine bananas also entered Beijing, according to Malacañang.  

 

“That was four days ago. Now our shipment is about 170 already,” said Alcala.

 

The controversy over shipments of Philippine agriculture products to China came at a time when the two countries were locked in a territorial dispute involving Panatag Shoal in West Philippine Seas that started in early April.

 

Alcala, however, noted the Philippines may have been remiss regarding the contested fruit shipments to China, saying Manila allowed independent banana grower to ship their produce to Beijing.

 

Some banana growers in Davao engaged in “pole vaulting” or bypassing the services of accredited packaging houses for fruit exports in with a view to cutting additional expenses and raising profit margins, the agriculture chief said.

 

The department said it shares the view of commercial banana plantations on imposing more meticulous inspection and double the cargoes before shipping them overseas.

 

It might be that the Philippine inspection and quarantine system had an episode of lax in imposing the required protocols, according to the Agriculture secretary.

 

As such, the department intends to issue a memorandum order requiring all fruit exporters, big or small, to have their produce packed only in accredited packaging plants, or else they would not be allowed to ship their products abroad, Alcala said.

 

A “zero tolerance” policy that involves double-checking all fruit shipments is now in place to avoid the latest tiff with China on Philippine agriculture exports, he added.

 

After Japan, China is the second biggest market for Cavendish bananas. The Philippines last year shipped 358,000 metric tons of bananas to China valued at P4.75 billion. –VS, GMA News