Ban on imported vegetables failed from start

 THE ban on certain vegetables by the Minister for Agriculture, Tommy Tomscoll is a failed policy and embarrassment to the government.    

When he was asked if he sought advised and consulted before imposing the ban, he blamed the Fresh Produce Development Authority and said “they are most important people who are an agency of my ministry. I will go along with what they say. I will not go along with other agents who represent their own interests. The local farmers need support”.  

Well, the advice of these “most important people” has failed the government and the people of PNG.  The whole idea of a ban was flawed from day one and everyone from consumers, retailers, sellers at the local markets and even the farmers saw that, except the minister and his advisers.  

For a start the volumes of these banned vegetables produced by the local farmers were insufficient to meet the country’s demand.  

The ban immediately drove prices up.  This is the simple supply/demand market force that even the sellers and consumers understand, except the minister and his advisors.  

Secondly the cost to deliver local produce to market is very high because of poor transport infrastructure and high cost of transportation making local produce more expensive than imported produce.  

The end result of the ban is that consumers did not buy these local vegetables particularly bulb onions and switch to alternatives such as garlic and ginger and forego the banned items altogether because they were too expensive.  

The retailers and wholesalers then stop ordering from local producers and the local farmers end up with produce that they could not sell and were left rotting at farms or warehouses such as the case in Chimbu reported in the papers this week of a supplier with his rotting onions.  

The intent of this failed policy to support the local farmers has done completely the opposite.  

The minister and his advisers at the Fresh Produce Development Authority do not understand the market forces and underestimated consumers’ ability to adapt and go for alternatives when they could not afford the prices of these vegetables.  

The minister must come up with better policies of subsidies, improving road and port infrastructure, and competitive pricing to assist local farmers and consumers. 

Switch to Ginger

Port Moresby