Angara urges boycott of Aussie agri goods

Senator and former Agriculture Secretary Edgardo J. Angara urged a boycott of Australia’s major agricultural exports to the Philippines in retaliation for the latter’s adamant rejection of Philippine tropical fruits for the last 12 years.

"We have to play hardball. The general policy is to place national interest before anything else. It should be tit for tat," Angara said.

He said filing a case with the World Trade Organization (WTO) is futile.

"This will not yield results. It will merely stall the just fight of the Philippines for market access for Philippine tropical fruits," said Angara.

Angara reacted to talks the Department of Agriculture (DA), growing frustrated with the consistent refusal of the Australian government to accept the entry of Philippine bananas and pineapples despite scientific evidence showing these products meet international safety standards and phytosanitary requirements, plans to log a case against Canberra with the WTO.

The Philippine government is now initiating dispute proceedings against Australia. Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor has instructed the country’s trade attaché in Geneva, where the WTO is based, to undertake consultations with Canberra. These consultations are preparatory for a filing of a trade dispute against Australia before the WTO’s dispute settlement board. Resolutions of trade disputes could take years to settle.

Angara recalled that in 2000, Australia agreed to carry out an import risk analysis (IRA) of Philippine bananas and pineapples after a 10-year wait, but this was only after the DA ordered a five-year phaseout of feeder cattle imports from Australia.

Feeder cattle exporters, fearing the loss of their biggest market, pushed Canberra into carrying out the IRA of bananas and pineapples.

The IRA came with the condition that Canberra will accept the entry of tropical fruits this year.

Angara said the selective boycott of Australian exports will force the affected commodity groups there to lobby for the entry of the country’s tropical fruits.