The Department of Agriculture (DA) is optimistic the Philippines will further increase its agriculture exports to Japan with the improved relationship of the two countries.
Japan imported $87 billion worth of agricultural products in 2022, making Japan the fifth largest market for such products in the world for the period.
The DA said Japan is the second largest market for Philippine agri-food exports. In 2022, agri exports from the Philippines to Japan reached $916 million, a 2.4 percent growth from 2021’s $894.4 million.
Meanwhile, as of the third quarter of 2023, local shipments of agricultural goods to Japan hit $679 million.
At the government’s participation at the Asean-Japan Summit in Tokyo last month, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. discussed with Japanese officials and businessmen the possibility of further opening Japan’s market for Philippine fish and tropical fruits such as pineapple, bananas, avocado, mangoes, durian, mangosteen and okra.
As a follow-up to the meetings in Japan, Laurel said the DA has scheduled the first meeting of the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Agriculture in the second quarter.
“This very first meeting of the joint agriculture committee of the two Asian neighbors here in the Philippines will provide an avenue to follow through the agri-fisheries trade and market access discussions started in Japan,” said Laurel in a statement.
Laurel added the joint agriculture meeting in the second quarter will also be an opportunity to discuss technical and project collaborations under the memorandum of cooperation signed in February last year and the MIDORI Cooperation Plan.
Last October, the Philippines alongside other Asian members, signed the MIDORI plan which aims to promote cooperation projects using Japanese technology and sharing experiences to build resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems for future food security.
The DA said it is also coordinating with the Department of Trade and Industry in securing preferential tariff on Philippine bananas, whose share in the Japanese market is under threat from those coming from Cambodia, Laos, Mexico and Vietnam. Tariff on bananas from these countries is either zero or at preferential rate.
The DA said Philippine bananas are staple in Japanese households, accounting for 22 percent of their food basket.
Proximity of the two countries allows the delivery of low-cost bananas and other tropical fruits compliant with Japanese food standards.
Laurel also said in the statemet that the Philippines looks the review of Japan-Philippines Ec onomic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) as a good initial opportunity “to discuss the Philippines’ appeal for lower tariff on bananas.”
Under JPEPA, tariff on Philippine banana is pegged at 8 percent from April 1 to September 30, and then increased to 18 percent for imports between October 1 and March 31.
Apart from lowering banana tariff, DA is also seeking to revive the Japanese market for Philippine mangoes as its export had declined since Japan adopted in 2011 stricter sanitary and photo-sanitary standards, especially the maximum residue limit.
Aleli Maghirang, agriculture attache of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, expressed hope the reentry of fresh Davao mangoes to the Japanese market will spur “greater confidence on our exporters to continue supplying to Japan.”
Laurel directed for the immediate improvement of testing laboratories to align Philippine food code with those of importing countries like Japan and the enhancement of farming practices and production of good quality planting materials for expansion and replanting.
