Philippine food and agriculture exports to the US reached $1.7 billion in 2011 up by 48 percent from 2010, with sugar accounting for close to $263 million, US Agricultural Counselor Philip Shull said yesterday.

Philippine sugar sales to the US rose from $50,666 in 2010 to $262,747 in 2011 or an increase of 418.58 percent, Shull said.

At the same time, the US was also the number one supplier of food and agricultural products to the Philippines in 2011 having exported P2.15 billion products or an increase of 28 percent, Shull, who met with sugar leaders at the Mushu Restaurant in Bacolod City, said.

“The United States agricultural partnership with the Philippines has never been stronger and is a model of success in the world” as shown by the statistics, he said.

Shull said he was meeting with the sugar leaders because his office is mandated by Washington to submit reports on “key topics of interest and one of the most important agricultural products in the Philippines is sugar”.

So every year we come to Negros Occidental that is one of the biggest sugar producing regions in the Philippine to talk to farmers and find out what is going on, he said.

The sugar leaders he met yesterday informed him that production this year has dropped because of the rains, unlike last year when production was high, Shull said.

The Sugar Regulatory Administration has downgraded its sugarcane crop estimate of the Philippines for crop year 2011-2012 to 2.242 million metric tons of raw sugar production from the initial estimate of 2.40 million metric tons.

The Philippines is among about 15 countries allocated an annual share of the US sugar quota, he said.

The guaranteed base quota for the Philippines is 144,901 MT but in April the US Department of Agriculture conducts a review to determine if additional quotas are needed depending on the US need, he said.

CATTLE

At the meeting, Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, also informed Shull of the food security thrust of Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr. for Negros Occidental, and the importation by the province of sheep and cattle from Australia.

Shull said he could also help facilitate Negros Occidental’s importation of cattle and goat breeding stocks from the United States.

His office can help the province get in touch with the right suppliers who have experience in exporting to Asia, he said.

“Our breeding stock (in the United States) is far more superior,” Shull said, adding that he would be he happy to talk to the governor.

The governor told the DAILY STAR he would be happy to hear what Shull has to offer.

Shull said “We call ourselves the ‘office of yes’ – anything that a government wants to do in agriculture we can help do.”

The mission of his office is to promote trade exports and imports to create jobs, he said.

“We want to see Philippine agriculture succeed, if your farmers are making money, we hope some of the things they buy are our exports”, he said.

He said other increases in Philippine exports to the United States last year were in processed foods and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable juices, citing the explosion of popularity of canned coconut water.*CPG

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