The Philippines intends to increase mango exports to Japan, South Korea and Russia to ease the glut in mango supply, but the Department of Agriculture (DA) admitted it will not be easy due to the stringent food-safety rules in these nations.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol told reporters in an interview on Monday that the Philippines could export an additional 100 tons of mangoes to Japan this harvest season.

On top of this, Piñol said negotiations are now under way to ship mangoes to South Korea and Russia. He said Manila is already making the necessary preparations to comply with the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements of the Russian government.

The prices of mangoes in the Philippines have plummeted. The bumper harvest, caused by El Niño, happens “every three to four years”, said Piñol on June 10th.

“It’s a good phenomenon for us. The only problem is our farmers weren’t able to immediately coordinate with us that they have expected oversupply and partly the DA (Department of Agriculture) has fell short on monitoring these developments,” Piñol added.