Filipino growers of bananas and their exporters were relieved after South Korea decided not to go through with new regulations on residue limits. The residues in question are some of the pesticides used for growing bananas in the country.
Maria Alilia G. Maghirang, head of the Philippine Agriculture Office in Seoul, said South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drugs Safety (MFDS) favorably considered Manila’s requested pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) for bananas. In the end however they decided to keep the current limits in place.
The Philippines accounts for more than 90 percent of bananas being imported by South Korea annually. Exporters shipped a total of 212,083 metric tons of bananas to South Korea, valued at $80.99 million in 2015, according to data from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
