Follow int’l standards, DTI tells food firms

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is urging the local food industry to be more vigilant in complying with international food safety standards as more countries are beginning to tighten their controls due to rising concerns on the bird flu infection.

According to Trade Undersecretary for International Trade Thomas Aquino, food products were the second top export earner of the country last year.

The country’s food exports rose 32.79 percent to $1.319 billion last year from only $993.49 million in 2002.

Increases were specifically noted in processed food and beverages which went up 21.79 percent to $475.73 million from $390.60 million; fruits and vegetables which went up 10.58 percent to $601.72 million from $544.13 million; and raw coffee which went up 311.47 percent to $241.78 million from $58.76 million.

"The continuing increase in food exports is significant in that it occurred just when the global economy was being threatened by a fallout from infected fowls and cows," Aquino said.

"It is good news and a warning at the same time. With the bird flu still very much in the air, we can expect the guidelines for allowing entry of food imports in the international market to get tougher and can change anytime," he added.

The DTI Undersecretary said that "food safety is a foremost concern in world trade, primarily because of its immediate yet long-term impact on the health of consumers."

Food safety and quarantine regulations, Aquino noted, vary per country, making compliance a continuing challenge to food exporters trying to increase their share of the world market.

In a related development, Aquino said that the European Union (EU) is sending a mission to the Philippines from March 3 to 18 this year to investigate the country’s export documentation process following an incident wherein shrimps were exported to the EU using fraudulent documents.

Philippine shrimp exporters also face tougher competition for important markets if the US decides to grant the petition of its shrimp-catching industry to impose stiff tariffs on shrimp imports from Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Vietnam that supply nearly 90 percent of the US market.

While the Philippines is not affected by the petition, exporters fear that major suppliers to the US might divert large volumes of their shrimp products to other countries such as Japan which is one of the most important market for shrimps.

Meanwhile, the EU has also issued a new regulation covering the export of smoke-flavored food products and smoke flavoring defined as smoke extracts used in traditional foodstuffs smoking processes.

The regulations stipulates that smoke flavorings as well as food products containing smoke flavoring would only be allowed entry to the EU market if the smoke flavoring is derived from a primary product authorized in the EU.