If the agriculture sector intends to take advantage of the Asean Economic Community, an economist from the University of the Philippines (UP) urged the modification of some farm exports to fit Asean tastes.
Prof. Ramon Clarete of the UP School of Economics, in an analysis, listed at least eight Philippine export products in this sector that can be altered or expanded to improve demand for their goods.
Clarete said these exports are oil cakes; sweetened milk solids; frozen skipjack or stripe bellied bonito; maize; frozen boneless bovine meat; other animal feed; cocoa beans; and milk in solid form with no more than 1.5-percent fat.
“Analyzing data from 2008 to 2012, Clarete found that with slight changes to their ingredients or processes, local exporters can tap into the rising demand for certain food products in the Asean market,” the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) said in a statement.
Philexport said Clarete’s research further indicates that the Philippines appears less nimble than its competitors in the Asean in adapting to change and shifting to high-demand products and high-growth export destinations.
Clarete’s data showed that food and agricultural shipments were similarly limited. Some 60 percent of Filipino food and agricultural products went to just three markets—the European Union, the United States and Japan. He said that while oil cakes made of coconut are already among the top Philippine exports, it can be modified by producing oil cake using soya beans to widen market destinations where the product can be exported.
Sweetened milk solids with at least 1.5-percent fat can be modified by removing its sugar content to cater to other countries that prefer to import unsweetened milk solids.
“There appears to be a lack of dynamic responsiveness in shifting exports to products that are in high demand in other countries,” Clarete said. “The Philippines needs to increase efforts in tapping high-import growth regions.”
Clarete identified the top 20 imports of other Asean members between 2008 and 2012 as oil cakes made of soya bean; soya beans; spelt, common wheat and meslin; frozen skipjack or stripe bellied bonito; raw cane sugar; crude palm oil; crude palm kernel oil; noncrude palm oil; maize (excluding seed); and milled rice.
Other top export were wheat or meslin flour; other food preparations of flour; frozen boneless bovine meat; other animal feed; cocoa beans; preparations for infant use; other food preparations; stemmed/striped tobacco; milk, solid form equal to or less than 1.5-percent fat; and milk, solid form equal to or more than 1.5-percent fat, unsweetened. In comparison, the top 20 exports of the Philippines from 2008 to 2012 were coconut; crude coconut oil; noncrude coconut oil; oil cake, coconut; bananas; guavas, mangoes, mangosteens; pineapple juice; fresh/dried pineapples; prepared/preserved pineapples; and prepared/preserved tuna.
The list also includes frozen yellowfin tuna; prepared/preserved fruit; prepared/preserved fruit mixtures; frozen shrimps and prawns; milk, solid form, less than 1.5-percent fat, sweetened; raw cane sugar; stemmed/striped tobacco; smoking tobacco; cigarettes; and mucilage and thickeners.
Philexport said Clarete shared his findings during a recent presentation before a focused group discussion on the impact of Asean economic integration on the Philippine food and agribusiness sector.