Inspection and quarantine procedures for food products coming into and out of the country will be improved through an agreement between the Philippine government and the World Bank’s private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation.
The agreement provides that World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) would collaborate with the Department of Agriculture in putting up and implementing interntional best practices for inspections of the country’s food imports as well as food exports.
“The move is expected to improve food safety, benefit some 1,500 agribusinesses, and save around $12 million because of reduced costs in complying with import and export safety requirements,” IFC Resident Representative Jesse Ang said in a statement.
The IFC would also help the Department of Agriculture set an online system for sharing data about risks found in agri-fishery products that affect human, plants and animals.
IFC and DA will soon be holding consultations with local agri-fishery businesses on how to improve the country’s border inspection procedures and combat pests and diseases in plants, fish, and animals.
“These trade logistics reforms are far reaching and we want our decisions informed by feedback from our stakeholders,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala in turn said in his own statement.
“We want to say with a high degree of certainty that the imported and domestically produced meat, fish and plant products that Filipinos eat are safe for human consumption.”
The partnership between IFC and the department is supported by the Canadian government.
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