Import ban was to push th sector

The Farmers and Settlers Association is concerned that the Government has caved in to the pressure of the various Chambers of Commerce and Industry and other commentators who did not understand the reasons for the ban. There have been widespread concerns over issues of biosecurity and the ban on uncooked livestock products, particularly poultry and the recent saga over the selected fruits and vegetable ban. The Farmers and Settlers Association has been concerned over the last fifteen years when the Government focused on the non-renewable resource extraction sector. It turned a blind eye as well as forgot or gave lip service to the rural and agriculture sector that caters for the majority of the population for their daily food, money for education and health costs, clothing, transport charges and other needs.

Wilson Thompson, President of Farmers and Settlers said the issues of policy, transport, markets, quality, sufficient quantity and reliable supply has always been here in PNG some 30 years ago and the same reasons continued to be peddled by the proponents against the ban. The same reason were used during resource extraction of Ok Tedi, Lihir, Misima, Porgera, Kainantu and we continued to import without even nurturing our local industries. The current import ban on livestock and fresh food should have been put in place during the LNG planning and construction phase. The same business community argued that PNG did not have the capacity to supply the needs of the LNG alone. While that may have been correct, the National Government would have intervened to ensure the locals will utilise the opportunity to upscale their production as well as improve the quality based on the needs of the market. All the opportunities go missing whilst the same issues are repeated every year.

For those people who want the agriculture sector to be competitive and driven by market forces, we cannot jeopardise our industry here when we know that we do not have the resources including finance to monitor , regulate and eliminate any pests and diseases threats to plants and animals. Since the Coffee Rust outbreak of 1986 and more so in last 15 years, the country is been subjected to various incursions by pest and diseases that may ultimately cause havoc on agricultural production and threatening food security and export revenue. This bio security threats pose a major risk to the majority of the people of Papua New Guinea who rely on Agriculture and Livestock, where 85 percent of the people engage as smallholder farmers by using 97 percent of total land area being customary.

PNG has been and is now dealing with Potato Leaf and Cane Sugar Blight, Varroa Mite (bee and pollination) and tropealapsis , Coffee Berry and Cocoa Pod Borer, Cattle tick, Newcastle Disease and now coconut and betel nut palms wilting and dying out. Despite successful Government interventions the threat remain and resources to contain is insufficient. 

Australia allocates up to K250 million in its Budget to cater for Biosecurity risk response for eradication of pests and diseases and yet does not allow uncooked poultry and livestock products into their country. In PNG, our funding to DAL and NAQIA for containment is negligible, yet many people want competition and to allow imports that could be devastating for the country, knowing very well our own weakness in control etc.. 

Based on some of these issues, the Poultry Industry Association and Farmers and Settlers Association called on the Minister and Government to ban uncooked poultry products. PNG has a growing poultry industry where 12.8 million birds are raised and sold by smallholder farmers worth K384 million and the commercial sector is around K600 million annually. We have made it clear that the price of poultry products during the ban should not increase from the present despite shortage and demand or higher than imported products. The intention for calling for the ban is to protect from bio threats but also expand the industry and also to create the opportunities for our out grower farmers to increase production to meet the shortfall from the import ban.

The issue of fresh fruit and vegetables ban was based on the development of the horticulture industry. We cant produce pears, grapes, apples, rhubarb and parsley, rock melons which can be imported but why allow imports when potatoes, tomatoes , cabbage, garlics and onions and broccoli have been grown since the colonial era. If the ban or quota was enforced during the LNG construction period, by now the supply and demand including quality should have been addressed and certain crops which we could not supply could still be allowed in. 

We have bags and bags of cabbage, cauliflower, onions, garlics, broccoli and tomatoes on the roadside to be transported to Lae or Madang and to Port Moresby. At times, these were sold for K1-2 at Lae Market or if the trucks or ships are delayed, these were dumped as it was uneconomical for farmers to sell at Lae Market.

That is when representations were made to the Minister and DAL to place quota or import ban on products that can be supplied locally. This will allow certainty for the farmers that their produce is required and there is no competition from overseas supplies. Further, the supermarket can arrange specifically with farmers or resellers that certain amount of capsicum, onion or tomato is required per week for the producers to have a target to work with and also that enable the issue of quality to be improved. 

With the issue of drought, nobody took NARI seriously until reports were received in 2015 of frosts and food crops wiped out when the Government confirmed that we have a Drought situation. In essence, the Minister and DAL made on decision on the ban on selected imports was within the request made in 2014 before a formal Drought Declaration and it is to promote the industry and give a head start for the horticulture industry.

Finally, despite the arguments against the ban, the farmers are not getting any more than what they are paid at the farm gate and prices should not increase using the ban. The consumer has a choice and we will not die if we do not eat onion or capsicum or tomato and we must support the ban to support the majority of the people and we can appreciate the positive effects such as more varieties are available at our markets, prices in urban centres will drop or are affordable and consumer will assess on the quality and price. 

We have talked about supply chain, value chain, consumer chain, food security policy, NADP, Rice policy, SME, yet we have not gotten it right and the Ban was supposed to wake up the chains and the system to react and expand the horticulture and the agriculture sector.