December 5, 2012

As the Philippines is free of bird flu, the government is urging the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Environment and Water to lift the ban on Philippine poultry exports to the federation.

"It is likely that the UAE government may soon lift the ban. I believe that if we immediately follow up on our request, the ban could be lifted any time within December or early 2013," Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said over the weekend.

Alcala and other department officials recently returned after a five-day official visit to Dubai, during which the Philippines and the UAE discussed sustainable agricultural development.

The Agriculture chief said that the emirates are interested in importing fruits such as pineapple, papaya and mangosteen from the Philippines. By year end, UAE quarantine experts will arrive in the Philippines to check the sites where the fruits are grown and harvested.

"We are also trying to convince Dubai to get from us long grain aromatic rice. We'll be exporting specialty rice starting next year, and Dubai is one of the first few markets that we plan to penetrate," said Alcala.

While in Dubai, the Agriculture officials also launched its Agri-Pinoy project among Filipinos working in the emirates to encourage them to engage in small and micro-scale agriculture trade activities.

"This is an alternative livelihood programme that will help our fellow Filipinos start over should they decide to go back and live here," said Alcala.