BARMM mulls lifting coconut export ban

The board argued the export of de-husked mature coconuts would help coconut suffering from the slumping price of copra in the world market

As an autonomous entity, the newly-formed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) now has authority to repeal the national ban on the export of mature coconuts to China, the Middle East and United States.

Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) Chairman Emmanuel Piñol said he is studying the extent of BARMM’s power in relation to promoting the welfare of its agriculture stakeholders and that lifting the ban should benefit the region’s coconut farmers.

Article IV Section 2 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law creating the BARMM permits it to exercise its right to self-governance and allows the export of agricultural products.

Piñol said he plans to meet with BARMM’s Interim Chief Minister Ahod ‘Murad’ Ebrahim and lobby its Parliament for a measure that would specifically allow the export of mature and green coconuts. “Importers from the US, the Middle East and China have long been waiting for this and the measure will certainly alleviate the hardships of coconut farmers in Mindanao,” he said.

Previously, Executive Order 1016 issued in 1985 bans the export of mature coconuts on concerns over the spread of the genetic material of the commodity.

However, shortly after the transfer of the Philippine Coconut Authority to the Department of Agriculture in September 2018, the PCA Board recommended the lifting of the ban.

The board argued the export of de-husked mature coconuts would help coconut suffering from the slumping price of copra in the world market.

Piñol said unless the decree of the late President Ferdinand Marcos is lifted, coconut farmers would miss out on maximizing the rich supply of mature coconut in the market.

Piñol previously wanted to lift the ban during his stint as agriculture secretary. He also proposed to impose a tariff on imported palm olein and for the increase in the coconut methyl ester content in bio-diesel to help resolve the coconut supply glut.

CHINA DAILY A WORKER hauls a set of bicycle wheels at the Golden Wheel Group factory in Tianjin, China. The town was once dubbed as China’s first bike town.

MINDA Chair Emmanuel Pinol said the BARMM Parliament can pass a measure to lift the ban.