Philippines to boost fishery exports to South Korea

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is expected to raise its exports of seafood and fisheries products to South Korea.

In a statement, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Agriculture Secretary William Dar recently met with Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) Imported Food Inspection management deputy director Soo-jin Cho and assistant director Chan-hwei Lee to complete the plans for the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Food Safety of Philippine Exports to South Korea.

Dar said the MRA meeting would build a better relationship between the two countries and usher in increased exports of Philippine seafood and fisheries products while ensuring food safety for South Korean consumers.

According to Agricultural Attache to Korea Maria Aleli Maghirang, the MRA would also facilitate digitalization and efficient export document submission through the implementation of e-health certification of fresh and processed fishery products from the Philippines bound for South Korea.

The South Korean mission also visited Cebu and General Santos to inspect the operations and food safety compliance of three Filipino agri-fishery processing business firms, which are leading exporters of Philippine octopus, abalone, and smoked fish to South Korea.

Among these are Siargao Bounty Seafood Corp., Philippine Union Frozen Fish Inc., and MK Smoked Fish Corp.

On Dec. 20, 2021, the Philippine Agriculture Office (PAO) in Seoul facilitated and finalized the signing of the Special MRA between MFDS and the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) that will be finally executed on June 20.

According to MFDS, among the nine countries they have an MRA with, the Philippines is to date the fastest to implement after six months of finalization.

Cho said the country would also be the first among the fisheries trading partners of MFDS to adopt the e-certification system.

Dar said that the Philippines enjoys a favorable balance of trade with Korea, despite some production and logistical challenges during the last two years due to the pandemic, registering a surplus of more than $288 million last year.

In 2021, the Philippines exported $526 million worth of various farm and fishery products, a 20 percent increase from the previous year higher than in 2020, according to Maghirang.

Of the total, fishery products amounted to $29.5 million last year, majority of which are high-value products like octopus, abalone, black tiger prawns, sea cucumber and smoked tuna.

Moreover, Dar also expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the MFDS for donating pesticide analytical equipment, through another South Korea ODA project, to enhance the capability of the DA’s Bureau of Plant Industry to further boost exports of fresh Philippine fruits to South Korea.