THE Trade department wants to renegotiate banana tariffs under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) to help the country become the world’s biggest supplier.
“Our bananas have reclaimed number two position,” Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said on Wednesday.
“We’re hoping with the Japanese support so we could really get the top spot again,” she added.
Based on Food and Agriculture Organization data, the Philippines reclaimed its position as the world’s second-largest banana exporter last year after shipments climbed by 26 percent to 2.925 million metric tons.
Ecuador ranked first with total exports of 6.41 million metric tons.
The rise in outbound banana shipments last year, Roque said, was driven by the Philippines-Korea free trade agreement that took effect at the end of 2024. Philippine agriculture products, including bananas, significantly benefited from lower tariffs.
Japan, however, is the biggest market for Philippine bananas and under the JPEPA, it imposes an 8-percent tariff between October and March and a higher duty of 18 percent from April to September.
Roque said she was planning to meet with her Japanese counterpart to discuss the possibility of lower tariffs, among others, under the JPEPA.
“I’m setting a meeting ... within [the] first quarter so we can get this thing going,” she said.
Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) director Glenn Panganiban, meanwhile, also told reporters on Wednesday that the government was looking to expand agricultural exports to Japan and other countries.
He declined to comment on Roque’s push to lower banana tariffs, only saying that “I think the president and the [Trade] secretary are working on it,” but noted that the Philippines could export other banana varieties other than Cavendish to Japan.
The Philippine’s bid to become the top banana exporter is possible, Panganiban said, as the country already has the volume and only needs more markets.
Aside from Japan, the BPI chief said they were also looking at exporting jicama, or singkamas, to South Korea as there were interested buyers.
“They already have a volume that they’re looking at, we’ll just have to check with our production areas if they will be able to supply [that],” he said.
Uzbekistan is another possible market, with an agreement with its National Plant Protection Organization likely to be signed in March or April.
An agricultural attaché will also be deployed to the Middle East, Panganiban said, which will help in efforts to gain market access in the region.