Pjepa in their minds
Philexport 11 hopes agri tariffs discussed in Japan trip
THE Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) 11 is hoping that renegotiation of tariffs imposed on agricultural products shipped to Japan will be discussed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Japan visit this week.
Philexport 11 President Ferdinand Y. Marañon told Sun.Star Davao in an interview that they hope the two countries will agree on some compromises on this.
President Duterte flew yesterday to Tokyo, where he is expected to discuss economic and defense cooperation and other shared interests with Japan.
“We hope that our counterparts here can ask if Japan can lower tariffs of Cavendish banana and export products under the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (Pjepa),” Marañon said, referring to the former Japan-Philippine Economic Agreement (Jpepa).
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) Executive Director Stephen A. Antig, for his part said that the Pjepa issue remains to be one of the top priorities of the banana industry.
“The Pjepa issue is still unsolved, no progress, that is why we are trying to have Japan reduce if not eliminate tariffs so we can be competitive,” Antig said.
He added that the reduction of tariff on exported agricultural products will signal more Japanese buyers.
One of the officials who joined President Duterte is PBGEA president Alexander N. Valoria.
Earlier this year, PBGEA requested the Department of Agriculture to urgently push for the renegotiation of the Philippines' trade agreement with Japan as more Japanese importers start to strike deals with other banana producers such as Vietnam, Peru, Ecuador, and Indonesia among others.
In a previous interview, Antig cited that at present, Philippines is paying a maximum of 18 percent tariff to Japan during winter and eight percent during summer but Vietnam, Indonesia and other Japan exporters are exporting bananas to Japan at zero percent tariff.
Antig added that the zero-tariff trade deals of other exporters to Japan will significantly reduce that country's dependence on the Philippine bananas.
Pjepa formerly known as Jpepa, is a bilateral agreement intended to liberalize trade, investments and labor relations between the two countries.
Philexport 11 data revealed that Japan is the top market of Philippine bananas as the country bought $277.272 million worth of bananas last year, next to China at $157.499 million, South Korea at $80.986 million and Iran at $53.144 million.