The Philippines is finalising an agreement that will encourage small-scale banana farmers to export to Japan, according to the Manila Standard Today.

Director of the Philippines Bureau of Plant Industry Joel Rudinas said last week that a final protocol for a Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) had been finalised and was now up for comment.

He said the Philippine government planned to pursue and exploit a deal on banana exports under the JPEPA to allow small-scale banana growers to benefit from the trade agreement.

“They’re bringing down the tariffs from 20 per cent to 9 per cent, and we want to pursue that,” he is quoted as saying.

Cotabato Representative Emmylou Taliño Mendoza in early December had urged the government to increase banana exports to Japan following a banana-diet craze that has seen bananas sell out on a daily basis since June from Japanese supermarkets.

Ms Mendoza recommended the Agriculture and Trade Departments support local banana growers and exporters in terms of infrastructure, low-cost loans, technical assistance, or marketing support, to increase productivity and expand the country’s global market share.

However, non-government group the Ibon Foundation said that while Philippine banana and pineapple exports might increase with the implementation of the JPEPA, the agreement would benefit multinational corporations more than Filipino growers.

US-based Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita/Unifrutti jointly account for almost three-quarters of total Philippine banana exports and corner the bulk of exports to Japan, it told Manila Standard Today.

In a separate development, some 21,300 people in Northern Mindanao were evacuated from their homes over the weekend after flashfloods swept through the region, reports the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Heavy rains caused the Cagayan de Oro River to overflow, causing floods in 27 villages in Cagayan de Oro, Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, and Iligan City in Lanao del Norte.

Officials have reported the death of a 12-year-old boy. Two other children remain missing.

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