THE removal or lowering of tariffs in Japan and Korea may allow the Philippine bananas to remain competitive in the global market despite the entry of competition from Latin America.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) executive director Stephen Antig said negotiating for the lowering of existing tariff in Japan and Korea, if not fully eliminating, will make the Philippine bananas more competitive.
"If the tariffs are removed, chances are the volume of bananas that will be consumed by the Japanese will be increased. Same with the Korean consumers," Antig said.
"Hopefully, once we are able to regain the market share that we lose,...we can continue to expand by another 10,000 to 15,000 hectares," he added.
PBGEA president Alexander Valoria supported this statement by saying the current competition status of the banana industry is no longer company versus company like it used to be before, but instead country versus country.
"The Latin Americans have already negotiated on the government to government basis with Korea to reduce their import duties. Likewise, they're doing that to Japan," said Valoria who is also the president and CEO of Anflocor.
Valoria believes that together with the reduction or elimination of tariff rates, the Philippine growers will be able to negotiate for higher prices and money would continue flowing back to the Philippines as an additional help to the banana industry development of the country.
As presented during the general meeting of PBGEA members yesterday, October 27, the current banana tariff rates in Korea is at 30 percent while it falls at 8.2 percent for the months of April to September in Japan and the highest from October to March at 18.2 percent.
The country's annual tariff payment for bananas in the two countries mentioned reach as high as $178.8 million, with tariff payment to Japan amounting to $96.3 million and $82.5 million in Korea. As for pineapples, the Philippines has a $40.2 million total annual tariff payment, with Japan's amounting to $20.5 million and Korea with $19.7 million.
