QUARANTINE experts from the Philippines are set to go to Australia to evaluate Canberra’s proposal to modify quarantine protocols for imported grapes and citrus. 

“The Department of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry in Australia formally invited us to witness the first trial of a modified quarantine procedure for table grapes and citrus fruits,” said Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Clarito M. Barron in an interview. 

Canberra is proposing to subject citrus and grape shipments to cold treatment in transit or while the fruits are being transported instead of undertaking the treatment before the fruits are shipped out.

“The treatment to eradicate the presence of fruit fly is being done in Australia. There are proposals to do this in transit to reduce the shipping period by two weeks,” said Barron. 

BPI, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), noted that the reduction in shipping time could cut the cost of Australian exporters which could translate to lower prices for Australian fruits. 

Barron said the Philippine government will carefully weigh Canberra’s request.

He said the government will wait for the March shipment to see whether or not it will give its go signal to the proposed quarantine protocol.

Officials are currently trying to work out a “reciprocity arrangement” with Australia for agricultural trade as the Philippines seeks to gain more access to its market for farm products.

Based on agricultural trade data released by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, Australia posted a trade surplus with the Philippines of $225.2 million in 2010. Australian farm producers were able to export $260.84 million worth of farm products to the Philippines. In contrast, Philippine producers shipped out $35.65 million worth of farm products to Australia. 

The Philippines has been trying to have local bananas gain entry into Australia since 1995, without much success because of strict quarantine requirements there which Philippine banana growers have difficulty meeting.

There is strong resistance to the entry of Philippine bananas from the Australian banana industry on quarantine grounds.

The Philippines brought the case of banana market access to Australia to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body in October 2002.

The government argued that Philippine bananas pose no threat to Australian bananas because it does not intend to fill Australia’s entire demand for bananas. So far, the case remains pending at the WTO.