Tuna canners urge US to reassess trade law

The Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines (TCAP) has urged the United States government to reassess its trade law and make an even playing field for the entry of tuna products in the US market.

TCAP officials met with US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone last week to express their sentiments over the controversial US Trade Act 2002, according to the group’s spokesman Francisco Buencamino.

Buencamino said the local canners expressed appreciation that the approved Congressional Act changed the tariff quota formula for US-bound canned tuna from 2.4 million cases to 2.54 million cases based on the more stable basis of US domestic consumption, from the previous US domestic production which is continuously declining.

"But the tuna canners were disappointed that the Andean countries were given duty-free for their exports of pouched tuna to the US, a move that may edge out the Philippines altogether," said Buencamino.

TCAP pointed out that "pouched" tuna will compete directly with the canned tuna exported by the Philippines to the US market. The Philippines exports large sized institutional cans, and not retail size cans.

While pouched tuna in retail size is more expensive than retail size canned tuna, pouched tuna is cheaper in large size than canned tuna.

TCAP said this provision of the legislation favors Thailand, who owns the brand Chicken of the Sea, widely distributed in the US in retail sized cans.

"It will be damaging to the Philippines when the demand for pouched tuna in all sizes increases, especially when Andean canning plants begin converting their canneries to pouched tuna production," Buencamino said.

Under the US legislation, the quota provision is a universal quota and not specific to the Philippines.

"We cannot expect, nor are we capable, to corner the quota as a country-specific quota to be enjoyed by the Philippines alone. It is a global quota which all exporters to the US will scramble for," the TCAP official said.

The US envoy, according to TCAP, agreed to bring these observations to their Washington legislators for review and evaluation.

Buencamino expressed optimism that the Philippines may yet get a more equitable deal for market access to the US once the "misperceptions" are straightened out.