Final order: Philippines formalises new regulations requiring food firms to declare ‘sample’ foods entering the market
The Philippines FDA first published its draft regulations and application requirements for the new specialised import permit in 2023 - After a year of deliberations, the agency has announced that the regulations have finally been finalised and gazetted.
“This issuance covers all [food companies including] manufacturers, importers, traders, and distributors that engage in the importation of food samples to be used for research and development purposes,” it emphasised via a formal statement.
“Examples of this will include plant trials, production trials, sensory evaluation, quality assurance and so on, as well as the testing of all unregistered processed food products and so on.
“What this will not include are samples meant for ‘free tastings’ during exhibitions and trade shows, processed food products intended to be distributed, sold or offered for sale, or products meant for market testing to consumers or in any commercial facilities for market of consumer acceptability.”
New quantitative limits have also been established for permit applications, based on the type of product the ‘Samples Only’ permit is being linked to.
“For all processed food items that are considered finished products, the maximum limit (in net weight) for said imported product per invoice will be 50kg,” the Philippines FDA stated.
“The same will apply for items classed as fresh/raw food materials, but for food additives and food supplements this will be lowered to 5kg or 5 litres per variant – for supplements, this applies to all formats across capsules, powders and tablets and will be measured per invoice.
“All applications must be made to the FDS a minimum of 14 days before the products are to arrive in the Philippines – applications can still be filed less than 14 days before this, but any possible consequences arising from the permit not being approved or released before product arrival at the port will be borne by the [applicant company].”
The validity of the permit has been confirmed as 90 days from the date of issuance, and each permit will only be valid for one single usage.
More details on the finalised application guidelines and regulations can be found on the Philippines FDA website here.
Agricultural progress
President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also recently directed the local Department of Agriculture (DA) to work with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Finance (DOF) in developing measures to streamline the administration on agricultural product imports and remove non-tariff barriers.
Tasks under this presidential order include the streamlining of procedures for import licenses, minimising the processing time of import applications, reduction of administrative fees for certain agricultural imports, streamlining procedures to obtain sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance, and taking ‘concrete steps’ to improve the logistics, distribution and storage of imported agricultural products.
“The Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) will also be required to improve and standardise guidelines for sugar importation into the country, taking into consideration the need to reduce uncertainty in the sugar import regime and allow more traders to participate in the import programme,” Executive Secretary for the President Lucas Benjamin stated via a formal statement.
“There is also a need for DA to review and revise existing rules and regulations on the importation of frozen fish and fishery/aquatic products for wet markets during closed and off-fishing seasons or during calamities, particularly the provisions that impose quantitative restrictions on fish imports, limit competition and participation in international trade and restrict species allowed for importation.”
All involved agencies have been mandated to submit a quarterly report on the status of implementation of this order to the President, and to formulate the necessary guidelines for implementation.
