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DAVAO
CITY—With the government already losing more than P130
million for waiving laboratory fees for the tests it
conducts on agricultural exports in only four months,
agricultural exporters are now being urged to adapt
self-regulatory measures to ensure their chances of
meeting the quarantine standards of importing countries.
Joel
Rudinas, officer in charge director of the Bureau of
Plant Industry (BPI), said the government has lost P33
million in testing fees and more than P100 million in
inspection fees after it agreed to waive, beginning
March this year, some of the mandatory fees on exports
to help cushion the impact on exporters of the steadily
appreciating peso.
But in
so doing, the government is now concerned that the
exporters would slacken on meeting phytosanitary
standards “just because exporters don’t have to subject
their products anymore to government testing before
shipment.”
The
removal of the testing fee and the reduction of a fee on
laboratory inspection of sample exports was contained in
Executive Order 554, issued in November last year and
implemented in March 2007.
The
waived fees were part of the government move to ensure
that exported agricultural products met at least the
minimum quarantine standard of importing countries,
although countries like Australia and Japan, the US and
the European Union have come up with strict standards.
The
tests determine the presence of pests and diseases, and
the presence or residue of pesticides laced in fruit.
“Countries are getting stricter with pesticides and
other chemical input because the world is getting to be
particular with organic farm products,” he said. Organic
practice involves the nonuse of chemicals, from
fertilizers to pesticides.
Rudinas
said the executive order has directed state testing
agencies “to remove” these fees and the fees would not
likely be reimposed once the currency settles down and
the profitability of exports is no longer threatened
with declining receipts.
“The
intention to remove the fees was laudable but we are not
sure if it was the right medicine,” he told
BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the 6th Mindanao
Fruit Congress late last week held at the Royal Mandaya
Hotel here.
He said
the testing fee was totally scrapped and he estimated
the government lost P33 million from March to July. The
inspection of samples of exported fruits that would cost
exporters P5,200 per sample, was reduced to P2,500 on
the agreement that the slashed amount was the cost of
testing while the remaining amount would cover for the
purchase of reagents and other chemicals.
“That
means that we are practically unable now to do our
mandate of covering all exports for testing for pests
and diseases. I hope that with that mandate seemingly
removed from us, the agriculture industry would now take
it upon themselves to maintain the phytosanitary
standard of their products,” he said.
“They
have to do that, otherwise their products would only get
rejected and that would be to their disadvantage,”
Rudinas said.
He is
confident, however, that the industry was on the path
toward consciously adopting good agriculture practice.
“We have received a swarm of requests on how to conduct
good farm practice since last year.” He added that the
exporters were already apprised of this self-regulation
in the government dialogue with their respective
industry groups and associations.
“Let’s
take this [self-regulation] to another step, that it
would be the industries themselves that would aspire for
global standards, and not depend on the government.
That’s the best that can happen in this move,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rudinas told an open forum in the food
congress, where Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap spoke
at the closing rites, that China has agreed to let
Filipino exporters continue to apply only extended hot
water treatment to Philippine mangoes exported to
mainland China.
Other
countries have required the vapor heat treatment, but
China allowed the hot water treatment, allowing the
fruit to be sold cheaper in China’s domestic market. The
hot water treatment involves heating water to 48°
Celsius and placing the green mangoes in this water for
15 minutes.
Rudinas
said
China allowed exporters to immerse the mango for an extended
time to kill the common fruit flies that attach to the
fruit, and to remove some more traces of pesticides
lacing the fruit.
It was
agreed that Chinese experts would accredit the hot-water
treatment facilities. Four were approved in Metro
Manila. China conceded later that it would allow
Filipino experts to do the accreditation. The rest of
the country, such as Davao, have their own vapor heat
treatment and would not be a problem, he said. |
