Rise in demand for Australian fresh fruit to the Philippines
17 Oct 2019
Australian fresh fruit producers can take advantage of newly approved local
cold treatment facilities and increased flights to boost exports to the
Philippines.
‘Thanks to more flight options – 33 per week – between Australia and the
Philippines, local importers are open to bringing in fresh fruit via
airfreight. Airfreight is especially good for stone fruits, which have a
shorter shelf life and are more sensitive to temperature,’ says Elodie
Journet, Senior Trade Commissioner and Minister Counsellor, Austrade
Philippines and Micronesia.
‘Airfreight shipments require onshore cold treatment. The Philippines has
approved a revised list of Australian cold treatment facilities. If
Australian suppliers do not have an accredited cold treatment facility,
they can work with the facilities on the revised list to have their produce
disinfected prior to being loaded into air containers,’ says Journet.
View
the revised list of accredited cold treatment facilities.
Australia exported A$28.8 million worth of fresh fruits to the Philippines
in 2018, making Australia the Philippines’ third largest source of imported
fruits after China and the US.
The volume of Australian fresh fruit exports to the Philippines has
increased by 230% since 2010. This is largely due to the market access
gained in 2012 under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
The agreement reduced or eliminated tariffs for a range of fruits,
including stone fruits, citrus, kiwi and table grapes.
Australian cold treatment facilities must be accredited by the Department
of Agriculture and approved by the Philippines Bureau of Plant and Industry
and Philippines’ Department of Agriculture.
Exporters that want accreditation for their cold treatment facilities
should email a formal request to the Department of Agriculture’s
Horticulture Exports Program.
The Department of Agriculture will then work to have the facility
accredited by the Philippines Bureau of Plant and Industry, and submitted
to the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture for acknowledgement.
Contact Patricia De Mesa, Business Development Manager for Agrifood,
Austrade Philippines, for more information about exporting fresh fruits to
the Philippines.