BRUNEI SETS GUIDELINES ON VEGETABLES IMPORTS, 18 May 2007, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

New and tougher regulations on the importation of Malaysian vegetables and fruits have been agreed at a meeting between officials from Brunei and Sabah and Sarawak. The Star yesterday reported that the meeting was held in Miri on the joint surveillance of agricultural product movements from Sabah and Sarawak into Brunei. Following the meeting, it was agreed that there should be a standard quality for all vegetables and fruits, as well as the packaging and labelling of Malaysian goods that are imported to Brunei. It was also agreed that all vegetables and fruits coming into from Malaysia mush have an export declaration document. A limit on the amount of vegetables and fruits will be imposed for individuals wishing to bring them in. Each person will be limited to five items with a maximum weight of 30 kg. Brunei was represented by the Assistant Director of Agriculture Department, Dr Dabeding Hj Dullah, at the two-day meeting.The new policies, said Dr Dabeding, was to ensure that high quality products are traded between the two countries. Meanwhile, Hj Rusali bin Hj Sapar, the head of International at the Brunei Agriculture Department, in a phone interview said the importing procedures a re already in place since may 2005. He said that these procedures are being monitored and enforced by the Royal Customs and Excise Department and also the Agriculture Department. Hj Rusali added that the meeting in Miri was to basically fine-tune these procedures and other technicalities that have arisen. Brunei is nearly 60 per cent self-sufficient in vegetable production and 20 per cent in fruits. A total of 9,500 tonnes of vegetables and 3,700 tonnes of fruits were produced locally last year. To ensure adequate supply in the local market, about 6,500 tonnes of vegetables and fruits were imported last year. Bernama reported that about half of this came from Sabah and Sarawak alone. Representatives of the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama) and the agriculture departments of Sabah and Sarawak agreed that guidelines be drawn up to govern the export of vegetables and fruits from the two states to Brunei, which amounts to some RM5 million annually. Fama national director of control Mazlan Shamsuddin said Brunei wanted the new conditions to have more stringent controls at all entry points into the Sultanate. "We (Malaysia and brunei) have agreed to compile guidelines on these conditions and requirements that both exporters and importers can strictly adhere to," he was quoted by The Star as saying. Meanwhile, in an effort to alleviate the current egg shortage in the country, some 500,000 eggs have been imported into the country from Sarawak. Bernama quoted Dr Dabeding as saying that more consignments of eggs will arrive in the next few days. Brunei has been experiencing a shortage of eggs, which has resulted in an increase in the prices of eggs nationwide. Permits have been issued recently for local companies to export some 900,000 eggs into the country. Recently, the Department of Agriculture said they hoped with the import of eggs, the supply in the local market would stabilise again. The country reached self-sufficiency in egg production in 1994 but the latest shortage has been attributed to technical problems faced by local egg producers at the moment. According to official figures, the country consumed about 119 millions eggs in 2006--Courtersy of Borneo Bulletin Friday 18 May 2007 By M K Anwar