Posted on October 02, 2014 09:48:00 PM
By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran
THE UNITED STATES Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday lifted its previous entry prohibition on fresh mangoes grown in several regions of the Philippines after declaring the country pest-free, documents from the Federal Register said.
“This final rule allows mangoes to be imported into the United States from the Philippines. State and local laws and regulations regarding mangoes imported under this rule will be preempted while the fruit is in foreign commerce.”
“Fresh fruits are generally imported for immediate distribution and sale to the consuming public, and remain in foreign commerce until sold to the ultimate consumer. The question of when foreign commerce ceases in other cases must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.”
“No retroactive effect will be given to this rule, and this rule will not require administrative proceedings before parties may file suit in court challenging this rule,” the ruling further stated.
Before this ruling, only fresh mangoes from Guimaras could be exported to the US, as it was the only region that was determined by APHIS to be pest-free.
All other mango exports from the Philippines were only allowed to enter Hawaii and Guam, while mangoes grown in Palawan were entirely prohibited entry to the US.
The amendment to the prohibition is a response to a request by the National Plant Protection Organization of the Philippines for APHIS to reevaluate the mango shipments for pest contamination, to which APHIS granted by preparing commodity import evaluation document (CIED).
“Based on the evidence presented in the CIED, on April 10, 2014, we published in the Federal Register (79 FR 19838-19840, Docket No. APHIS-2013-0057) a proposal to amend the list of designated pest-free areas for mango seed weevil and mango pulp weevil within the Philippines,” the ruling read.
Industry players, however, were lukewarm to the ruling.
Roberto C. Amores, president of the Philippine Food Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said in a text message that this ruling will not have much effect on the country’s fresh mango exports, as the most pressing issues for the industry are on the production side, and not on the demand side.
“This news sounds good only for those who are not in the actual practice of the business,” Mr. Amores claimed.
“We have to focus more in increasing production, improving logistics, laboratory facilities for chemical residue analysis, and market promotions,” he said.
In July, Philippine outbound shipments of agro-based products brought in $447 million, 20.7% higher compared to the July last year, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Of this total, exports of fresh mangoes brought in $1.512 million in earnings, 36.4% higher year-on-year.
Year-to-date, agro-based exports totaled $2.887 billion, growing by 14.8% from the year previous. Fresh mangoes accounted for $8.192 million of the period’s sum, 20.1% higher than earnings seen the year previous.
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