MANILA, Philippines - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has peeled off one obstacle for the export of fresh Philippine bananas.

The USDA has issued a risk assessment report on Philippine bananas, stating that the fruit may enter the Continental United States if mitigating measures are put in place to address 14 quarantine pests it has identified.

The next step for the Philippines to win entry into the US market is to develop the risk management measures using points raised in the USDA?s risk assessment report.

A rulemaking process will then follow, after which the United States may allow the importation of Philippine bananas to the mainland.

An initial review of the USDA report done by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed that some of the identified pests might not be present in the Philippines or would not attack hard green bananas, and therefore should not be included.

Nevertheless, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap welcomed the potential opening of the US market to Philippine bananas.

?The USDA move brings us one step closer to our goal of providing our local banana growers the opportunity to penetrate the lucrative US mainland market,? Yap said.

Facilitating Philippine banana exports to the United States was one of the main themes in Yap?s recent US trip.

He was part of the delegation that accompanied President Macapagal-Arroyo. The Philippines earlier outlined its plan to enable banana exporters to access key markets such as the United States.

The Philippines has long wanted to export bananas to the US. The country requested the United States to allow fresh banana to enter the mainland in December 2005, according to BPI director Joel Rudinas.

This was part of an overall strategy to penetrate more foreign markets for Philippine agricultural products and enhance farmers? profitability.

The Philippines currently exports the fruit to Japan, South Korea, Middle East countries, New Zealand and China, among other countries.

Earlier this year, the Australian government approved a protocol allowing Philippine bananas into Australia.

The Philippines exports around $400 million worth of bananas annually.