The Philippines has asked Australia to terminate the anti-dumping measure on Philippine canned pineapples and sought for market access for Cavendish bananas.
The Philippines—Australia Trade, Investment and Industry Dialogue (PATIID) was convened on April 20 after a six-year hiatus that left these issues unresolved.
Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Australia’s Department of Foreign and Trade Deputy Secretary Christopher Langman has noted his government will closely work with the Philippine government and its exporters on addressing these requests.
Canned pineapples from the Philippines and Thailand were slapped with dumping duties since 2001.
While Australia has lifted the duties on canned pineapple used in the food industry from Thailand in 2019, same product for personal and commercial use coming from the Philippines continue to be slapped with anti-dumping tariffs.
The Philippines, however, started exporting frozen durian products from Davao City to Australia in March 2.
Rodolfo said the Philippines, at the dialogue, highlighted the expansion of Filipino food, fashion, and homestyle retailing offerings in Australian mainstream supermarket and retail stores.
There are over 300 Australian companies in the Philippines of employing about 44,000 Filipinos. Of that 200 companies are in information and communication technology.
Recently, Australian shipbuilding company Austal bared plans to develop an in-country facility for the supply of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) for national defense.
Filipino companies that have successfully established a foothold in the Australian market include Victoria Container International Terminal of International Container Terminal Inc., Monde Nissin, Ramcar Holdings, Inc., San Miguel Corp., Century Pacific Food, Inc., among others.
In 2020, Australia was the Philippines’ 20th export market, 15th import supplier, and 15th trading partner with total bilateral trade valued at US$1.13 billion. For the same year, total investments from Australia amounted to US$ 9.68 million.
The dialogue was held as part of a series of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Philippines-Australia diplomatic relations. (Irma Isip)
