The first shipment of Tongan squash for Japan for 2004 is expected to leave Nuku'alofa in early October, but this year the Tonga Squash Council takes control of the Squash Industry, and is setting a maximum of 16,500 tonnes for export.

For the first time the Council will oversee all squash matters, including the setting of export prices, the setting of a limit on export volume, shipping, and quality control.

A decline in export earnings from squash during the past few years led to a decision to let the Squash Council have more say in the running of the Industry, and for the Ministry of Labour and Commerce to be responsible only for the issuing of squash export licences.

The executive of the Tonga Squash Council includes the President, Tsutomu Nakao, and Secretary Steven Edwards who said that the council has 15 members, being all of the 15 licensed squash exporters this year. Steve said that the Council agreed to bring back the quota system, allocating a quota for each exporter. The Council is targeting 16,500 tonnes for export to Japan this year and no more.

Tonga during the past season over-supplied the market, which weakened their price bargaining power with Japanese importers.

Steve was optimistic that the Council would achieve its targeted export volume despite an obvious decline in squash growing this year.

Simione Sefanaia of the Tonga Development Bank, the main financier of the squash industry in Tonga, said that the bank allocated $2.5 million pa'anga for squash loans this year but at the end of the squash growing period, only $1.6 million pa'anga has been lent.