Tuesday, September 20, 2005
US approves review of RP carrageenan exports
By Jessica B. Natad
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Philippine carrageenan or processed seaweed will soon enter the United States (US) market at a relatively cheap and competitive price.
That is, if the product will be included in the US Generalized System of Preference (GSP).
In a letter to Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (Siap) president Benson Dakay, Ramon Vicente Kabigting, director of the Bureau of International Trade Relations of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the US GSP review committee has accepted the Philippine petition to designate carrageenan as an eligible article under the US GSP.
“As part of the review process, the GSP committee will solicit public comments and conduct hearings on the petitions found eligible for review. We enjoin the industry to prepare for the said public hearings, which are deemed crucial in the overall review,” according to a copy of the letter which Siap furnished Sun.Star Cebu.
Kabigting said the committee has scheduled the public hearing on Sept. 30.
Perks
Once included in the list for tariff perks under the GSP, Philippine carrageenan would be exported to the US at zero tariffs.
The current tariff on carrageenan is at 3.2 percent.
“This will enable carrageenan exporters to offer a more attractive price package for their carrageenan products,” said Dakay, chief executive officer of Shem-berg Marketing Corp.
He said a low price of carrageenan in the US will stimulate and increase the demand for the product, translating to more economic benefits to the Philippines, such as an expansion of the country’s seaweed farming and processing activities and an increase in employment and livelihood activities and income throughout the production chain.
The chain includes seaweed farming, harvesting and processing, as well as allied services or industries.
Siap had wanted to apply for the GSP in 2003. But the pollution case it filed against a US-based seaweed processing company in Mactan, Cebu prevented the organization from doing so.
Dakay earlier said a government official had advised the group to postpone its application while the case was still in progress.
The Environmental Management Bureau has already dismissed Siap’s case against the US company.
Siap is composed of seaweed farmers, farmers’ organizations, traders, processors and exporters and the academe in Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Workforce
The country’s seaweed industry has a total workforce of 750,000, including seaweed farmers, traders, transport haulers, processors, exporters and allied industry personnel.
Carrageenan is a jelly-like substance obtained from red seaweeds. It is used in commercial applications, such as gelling, thickening and stabilizing agents, especially in chocolate milk, cottage cheese, frozen desserts, yogurt, pet food and sauces.
It is also used in pharmaceutical formulations, cosmetics and industrial applications.
(September 20, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
