Japan lifts ban on RP mangoes

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) allowed the resumption of fresh mango exports by Marsman Drysdale Food Corp. whose recent shipments were discovered to have exceeded prescribed maximum residue limits (MRL) for the chemical pesticide The Department of Agriculture (DA) was informed by MHLW that it already lifted its requirement to impose a 100 percent inspection order for all Marsman’s fresh mango exports to Japan.

The order was also applied to other mango exporters from the Philippines.

The order was scrapped after the Bureau of Plant Industry placed corrective measures in its detection procedures. "This is a welcome development," DA Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said, adding that lifting of the 100 percent inspection order on Marsman mangoes will enable the company to increase its production, especially in Mindanao where the bulk of its supply is sourced.

Last June, Japan detected Chlorpyrifos chemical residue exceeding the limit from fresh mangoes exported by Marsman Drysdale. The detection prompted Japan to issue an order imposing 100 percent inspection of mangoes coming from the said company.

The order lengthened the processing and clearance of mango to one week. This resulted in shorter life of mango and loss of revenues from the producers. Panganiban ordered the BPI to trace the cause of Chlorpyrifos detection.

A team of expert residue analysts was sent to Japan to compare the procedures being conducted by both countries to further improve the detection procedures.

"A series of field investigation followed that resulted in putting up of corrective measures to prevent similar incidents," Panganiban.

The corrective measures include voluntary pre-harvest residue analysis, increasing the quality control inspectors in the fields and farmer seminars, among others.

Panganiban urged mango growers to follow strictly the mango export protocol agreed by the Philippines and Japan on March 8, 2005 to avoid similar problems in the future. In a recent development Philippine agriculture attaché to Japan Joseph Sison warned that mango exporters could face another ban if they fail to comply with Japan’s new MRL for another pesticide chemical, Cypermethrine.

Sison said that Cypermethrine is among toxic chemicals that could be banned as tougher food safety standards will be implemented in 2006 by Japan’s Food Safety Commission (FSC) which sets new MRLs for imported fresh agricultural produce.

"Philippine mango producers should take this matter seriously or they could face an outright ban of their products in the same manner that the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry (MAFF) banned mangoes exceeding the MRL set for the pesticide Chlorpyrifos," said Sison.

Sison said the new MRL for Cypermethrine is just as stringent as the Chlorpyrifos MRL at 0.03 parts per million. An initial positive list of MRLs for more than 700 compounds prepared by the FSC and MHLW will be revealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by 2006.

Japan is the country’s biggest buyer of fresh mango and processed mango products.