PHL seeks US market access for pineapple

BUREAU of Plant Industry Director Gerald Glenn F. Panganiban said the Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking greater access to the US market for Philippine pineapple.

Mr. Panganiban said the DA is awaiting word from the Federal Register, which sets the rules for shipping goods into US ports.

“I don’t want to comment on their internal process,” he told reporters last week.

Mr. Panganiban said he hopes the US can admit Philippine pineapple within the year, adding to the list of destinations for the commodity following the arrival of initial shipments to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 28.

He also expected more international markets to open up to Philippine produce by the second half of the year.

Other recent openings include mangoes to Switzerland and the European Union. The Philippines continues to push the export of pomelos to Japan.

Michael R. Sollera, the Philippine Agriculture Attaché for the Middle East, Africa, and India, is also working on opening up non-traditional markets like Egypt and the UAE.

Mr. Panganiban said negotiations are ongoing to export bananas to Uzbekistan in exchange for the import of cherries.

“Even if we want to export there, we couldn’t right now because we have logistics issues and the fuel crisis. The cost could be a bit high,” Mr. Panganiban said. — Marron Joshua F. Mendoza