Australia is now importing mangoes from select provinces in the Philippines. However, the entry of banana and other major fruit exports of the country to Australia continues to encounter problems.
For years, Australia has limited the access of Philippines’s fruits, notably mango, banana and pineapple, allegedly due to insect infestations. It has set strict quarantine and treatment methods, such as vapour-heat treatment, to address the risk of fruit flies.
Australian Minister of Trade and Investment Andrew Robb said they are in the process of looking at the status of the current talks between Australia and the Philippines regarding the fruit issue “and to confirm that and to look at the procedures that satisfy our requirements.” He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has a free-trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand, which has led to significant growth in two-way trade.
Australia exports citrus, table grapes, cherries, apples, pears and kiwifruit to the Philippines.
The export of limited mangoes to Australia came following the signing of an agreement last year between the agriculture departments of both countries at the Second Australia-Philippines Agriculture Forum in Canberra.
“There is a demand for the fruits produced here [Philippines],” he said, “but as many would recognize, we might be a continent, but we are an island. And that translates with a lot less disease in plants and fruits and animals than any other countries in the world.”
