DTI bats for sustainable consumption, production

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will continue promoting and advocating for sustainable consumption and production (SCP), in line with the country’s efforts to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goal (SGD) 12 or responsible consumption and production.

“The DTI has always been an advocate of the advancement of the UN SDGs, particularly SDG 12,” DTI- Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said.

“We will continue and tirelessly push for increased consumer awareness and education on SCP until everyone in the country becomes a sustainable consumer practicing sustainability and exercising mindfulness for the planet in their daily consumer practices and behaviors,” she said.

The DTI made the commitment following the results of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Progress Report 2023 on SDGs.

“The report cited several countries that have made better progress than the regional average since 2015, with the Philippines being the only country to have bested the regional average for SDG 12,” the DTI said.

It emphasized that it is one of the agencies in the country that is pushing for implementing programs and initiatives that will assist consumers in shifting to more sustainable practices.

In 2018, the DTI formally started its campaign to promote sustainable consumption in the Philippines and as focal for the ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP), with the assistance of the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), served as the lead project proponent for the development of the ASEAN Sustainable Consumption Toolkit.

The toolkit aims to guide consumer protection authorities in ASEAN in promoting sustainable consumption by looking at best practices and models of public policies that will support sustainable consumption. It comprises five modules – it looks into the concepts and principles of sustainable consumption, best practices, and approaches to policies, tools, and instruments used in influencing consumer behavior, among others.

“The development of standards and eco-labeling, supporting - legislative proposals, creation and broadening of awareness on sustainable consumption are included in DTI’s initiatives,”the agency said.

It shared that over the years, its CPG has developed and continuously develops standards for environmental management that guide organizations and businesses in incorporating environmentally conscious design in their products.

In addition, DTI-CPG also assists in developing Green Choice Philippines, a voluntary, third-party ecolabelling program that follows the guidelines set by ISO 14020 and ISO 14024.

On the policy front, the DTI supported the various SCP-related legislative proposals, including that on single-use plastics and their regulation.