“There’s no such ban— our bigger problem there is that our exporters cannot find a bank that will accept a Letter of Credit opened by an Iranian buyer to buy our Philippine bananas. Most export transactions are done on a cash basis,” Alcala told the global summit delegates.
DAVAO , PHILIPPINES—– A bureaucratic foul-up between two government ministries in Tehran, Iran, has been blamed for the short temporary “ban” of Philippine fresh bananas into the Iranian fresh fruit market..
This was revealed here by the Department of Trade and Industry export promotion director Senen Perlada during the First Philippine Global Banana Summit held at the Central Bank building over the weekend.
“Apparently, there was a mix-up in that list of 49 fruits banned for imports drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and submitted to the Ministry of Commerce in Tehran so import permits will not be issued to Iranian importers, but this was later revised which excluded Philippine fruits” Perlada told delegates during the global banana summit here.
Perlada said he got this information from high authorities in Dubai UAE and Iran, stressing that this incident is a “wake up call” to big multinational fruit exporters here trying to corner the Iranian market for fresh bananas. “I also see this as a big opportunity for small banana exporters and small farmers trying to deal directly with Iranian importers and enjoying better prices for their fruits, “ Perlada said. .
Secretary of Agriculture Proceso Alcala also confirmed that Iran is not banning Philippine fresh bananas from entering the big Iranian market but initially expressed alarm and deep concern when the news came out in the national media.
“There’s no such ban— our bigger problem there is that our exporters cannot find a bank that will accept a Letter of Credit opened by an Iranian buyer to buy our Philippine bananas. Most export transactions are done on a cash basis,” Alcala told the global summit delegates.
Alcala said the government is now looking for ways to solve this problem of payment terms acceptable to both Filipino exporters and Iranian buyers. “This new government is giving the banana export industry our top priority. One of our marching orders is to strengthen our banana exports in the global markets,” Alcala said.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association executive director Stephen Antig said this new development shows how much Iran need a regular supply of Philippine bananas despite barriers and problems that local exporters face in shipping the fruit to Iran. “ We are thanking the Iranian government for not including Philippine bananas, pineapples and papaya in the list of 49 fruits they banned for importation to Iran”, Antig said.
Philippine Quarantine Service latest data show that Philippine banana exporters shipped more than 32 million carton boxes of fresh Cavendish bananas last year, racking up nearly 5 billion pesos in export earnings and benefiting around 216,000 workers and their families in Mindanao.
—– PHILPRESS NEWS
Posted on December 5, 2010
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