PHL bananas break into US market

Dole Philippines will send its first ever shipment of Cavendish to the United States, the Department of Agriculture said Monday.

The company is prepared to ship the bananas as soon as the US releases the paper work covering the deal, according to a Dole official who asked not to be named, as he is not authorized to talk to reporters.

Talks with US banana importers during the 114th Anniversary of the Agriculture Department were a success, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

“After years of discussion, this is a milestone,” Alcala noted. “We’re relieved that the US has finally accepted the phytosanitary report as well as the IRA (import risk assessment),” he said.

IRA is a trade protocol that reviews existing quarantine policy on imported animals, plants and their products. It identifies and classifies potential quarantine risks and develops policies in managing the risks.

“They are now discussing freight costs. We have to make sure that our freight is competitive,” Alcala said.

“This has been years in the making,” the Dole official said. “Initially, we’re starting out with one container van per week. We’re expecting demand to spike, once our produce gets stateside.”

The Agriculture Department said that US Department of Agriculture (USDA) already issued an import risk assessment that allows fresh Philippine bananas to the US.

The Philippines first asked the US to allow fresh bananas to enter the mainland in December 2005. Manila also requested Washington to allow the fresh bananas into Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands in September 2007.

The Agriculture Department said the shipments will be of modest volume at first “but it may increase depending on demand.”

China, one of the Philippines’ largest markets for bananas, recently refused entry to large quantities of Cavendish shipments saying the produce was infested with bugs.

After coconuts, bananas are the country’s second biggest cash-crop export with revenues reaching $720 million in 2010.

Apart from China, Japan, Korea, Russia–as well as the Middle East–are buyers of Philippine bananas. —VS, GMA News