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Friday, August 25, 2006
Mango exporters face challenges in key markets
INCREASINGLY stricter food safety standards of major importing countries and more competition from other suppliers are the most difficult challenges facing the Philippine mango industry today.
Miles Cabia, export and procurement manager of Diamond Star Corporation--a leading mango exporter, reported that the Japanese market had tightened its quarantine requirements on fresh mango shipments from the Philippines particularly on the residue limits of agro-chemicals applied in mango farming.
"This move has resulted in lower export volumes of Philippine fresh mangoes to Japan, which is the country's most lucrative foreign market during the past two years," Cabia said.
"Local exporters to Japan have become very selective of their mango supply sources to comply with the stricter Japanese quarantine regulations," added Cabia.
Random testing of fruits is done by exporters to ensure that pesticide residues are within allowable levels, thus pre-shipment testing entails additional costs to exporters, said Cabia.
But there is more to just tightening of quarantine requirements.
According to Mayo Javier, Dole Philippines mango manager, local exporters are also facing increasing stiff competition with new players, with new fresh mango suppliers now penetrating the country's traditional export markets particularly Japan.
"Mexico and Brazil are now exporting fresh mangoes to Japan, thereby eating quite a bit of the Philippine's total share of the market, plus the Japanese government is also set to allow fresh mango shipments from India very soon," Javier reported.
Javier noted that with new competitors in the Japanese market, the Philippine mango industry should enhance its over-all quality and post-efficiency to protect the country's market share.
The Philippines is the world's fourth-largest mango exporter after Mexico, India and Brazil. Total Philippine fresh mango exports amounted to US$26.6 M in 2005, declining by about seven percent compared to 2004.
The decline in exports was primarily due to lower total mango production brought about by unfavorable weather conditions last year.
Aside from Japan, Hong Kong is another important market for Philippine fresh mangoes.
But according to Cabia, mango exports to Hong Kong have also been decreasing the past two years due to lower mango production volumes and unpredictable market conditions in the island-territory.
"Hong Kong is essentially a consignment market and many mango exporters do not want to gamble on wild price fluctuations in the HK fresh fruit market," Cabia explained.
Meanwhile, China is also an emerging market for Philippine fresh mangoes but new quarantine rules threaten to restrict the continued growth of mango exports.
Early this year, the Chinese government announced that it would require vapor heat treatment (VHT) of fresh mango shipments from the Philippines before they are allowed entry into the China market.
According to mango industry sources, the VHT process would entail an additional cost of at least US$0.40 per kilo and would make Philippine mangoes more expensive to Chinese consumers at the retail level.
Several mango grower organizations have already urged the Department of Agriculture to negotiate with the Chinese government a mutually acceptable quarantine treatment procedure for fresh mango shipments.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (August 25, 2006 issue)
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