AUSTRALIA is evaluating a request from the Philippines to review alternative biosecurity measures aimed at facilitating market access for local bananas in the country.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) of Australia said the Philippines requested last March the consideration of an additional Cavendish cultivar and an additional export province that were not considered in its 2008 assessment.
DAFF said it will consider this request at the same time as the assessment of the Philippines’s alternative measures to manage Moko, black Sigatoka and banana freckle, which Manila submitted in 2018.
The three pathogens of concern were identified to pose a quarantine risk under Australia’s 2008 import risk analysis report, which required stringent risk management procedures before allowing trade.
Such measures included areas of low pest prevalence in combination with commercial production practices such as fungicide spray, visual inspection, and trash minimization.
However, DAFF noted that its proposed risk management measures were never finalized with the Philippines due to costs and technical challenges, thus restricting trade.
Currently, Australia does not allow inbound shipments of fresh bananas from any market.
The international agency said it would consider the Philippines’s risk management measures alternative to those proposed in 2008.
It also added reviewing the analysis report to ensure that evaluations of other pests are still appropriate, and to see if any new biosecurity threats have surfaced since the risk report was completed.
Despite this, DAFF clarified that conducting the assessment would not ensure trade for Philippine bananas in Australia.
‘The notification that we are conducting the assessment does not mean that trade will occur or is imminent. There are several steps still required before we can complete the assessment.’
The international agency noted that its officers will visit the Philippines later this year to see banana growing practices and understand the risks, controls, and feasibility of potential risk management measures.
‘We remain committed to upholding Australia’s biosecurity status and protecting domestic industries from pest and disease threats,’ DAFF said.
‘We will only agree to alternative measures if our assessment concludes the measures effectively manage the biosecurity risks associated with importing bananas from the Philippines to achieve Australia’s appropriate level of protection.’
However, Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) Executive Director Stephen Antig doubts that the country could secure market access for bananas to Australia.
‘Personally, I am not optimistic that we will have access to Australia. They always use biosecurity as a reason for not allowing our entry,’ Antig told the BusinessMirror.
The Philippines held a six-year streak as the world’s second-largest exporter of bananas before it slipped to third place in 2023 after being dislodged by Guatemala. It maintained the same spot last year.
The country’s banana output continued to be battered by the persistent spread of the Banana Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 (TR4), also known as Panama disease.