RP to export mangoes to US, Australia

There is one thing the Philippines can be proud of. The country will be exporting Guimaras mangoes this coming harvest to Australia and the United States, according to Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) director Blo Umpar Adiong.

As a frontline defense in crop protection, Adiong said the bureau’s Plant Quarantine Service (PQS) has succeeded in putting Philippine fruits in foreign markets.

Mango exports to the United States, Adiong said, resulted from almost 10 years of negotiations between the BPI and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The approval came with the publication of the "Final Rules on the Importation of Mangoes from the Philippines" in the US Federal Registry.

Adiong finalized and signed the final work plan (protocol) detailing the procedure for Philippine mango exports to the US in July last year.

Together with the work plan, the cooperative service agreement (trust fund) was also signed to ensure the continuous services of USDA inspectors once the exports begin.

Mangoes from Guimaras will be in the US market starting next month.

He said the BPI-PQS also proposed last year, through the submission of a fact sheet, the export of Philippine bananas to the US. Negotiations are ongoing.

Through the efforts of the BPI-PQS, exports of fresh mangoes to Australia resumed, after eight years of negotiations, in May last year, using the vapor heat treatment to disinfect the fruits from fruit flies.

Adiong said fresh mango exports to Australia using ethylene di-bromide (EDB) were officially stopped on Jan. 1, 1993 since there was no available alternative treatment then.

Vapor heat treatment on mangoes for export has been approved by both the Philippines and Australia.

To date, 738 kilos of fresh mangoes have been exported to Australia. Exports will resume once the harvest begins for Guimaras mangoes which are the only ones accepted for export to Australia.