MOSCOW: Russia has expressed interest in exporting pork, cattle and poultry meat to the Philippines during a recent meeting aimed at bolstering trade relations between the countries, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Sunday. Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T. Cayanan said officials from Moscow made this pronouncement during the Russia-Philippines Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation held on January 26. Cayanan said he told the 19-man Russian delegation that the Philippines is keen on exporting mangoes, bananas, avocados and vegetables, such as okra, to Russia. “On behalf of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, the department hopes to pursue more agriculture cooperation with your country,” he said in a statement. Cayanan noted that the last memorandum of understanding between Russia and the Philippines was signed in 2007.
Alexander V. Tysbulskiy, co-chairman of the joint commission, said Russian companies also want to export grains, such as wheat and barley, to the Philippines. Tysbulskiy said Russia is one of the biggest grain exporters, shipping over 40 million tons of grains every year to different countries. “The advantage of Russia, compared to other grain-exporting countries, is its short distance to the Philippines,” As for Russian meat products, the DA official told members of the delegation that they need to meet hurdle the restrictions set by the Philippine government. During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders Meeting in Peru last November, Russia committed to purchase $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products from the Philippines starting this year.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto M. Pernia earlier said recent trade agreements with Russia would boost the country’s trade performance, particularly on agricultural exports. The Philippines’s total agricultural exports receipt to Russia in 2015 reached $14.6 million, accounting for only 0.29 percent of the agricultural exports that year, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The country’s top agricultu–ral export to Moscow was crude animal and vegetable materials (including hides, skins and furskins) valued at $6.72 million, followed by vegetables and fruits at $5.77 million.
