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Monday, February 06, 2006
BFAR works on lifting ban on goods
THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is trying to comply with European health, safety and quality standards on fish storage and processing to lift the ban on 71 Philippine companies.
This was reported by BFAR former head of fish inspection and quality control Ching Baltazar to the Export Development Council (EDC) last week.
“We aim to get the delisted enterprises reinstated when the European mission returns this quarter,” Baltazar told Philexport News and Features in an interview.
Early last year, a team from the European Commission Food and Veterinary Office sent an inspection mission of fish storage and processing facilities across the country and found that most of the exporters to Europe failed to comply with the European Union’s safety, health, environment and quality standards.
Standards
The European mission banned 71 Philippine companies from exporting their processed or fresh fish and other marine products until they have complied with EU standards. The requirement also prompted the government to set up service and laboratory facilities to help exporters.
The ban took its toll on the export performance of the marine sector last year. This was reflected in a data, which showed that marine product exports were the only segment of the food sector that suffered a decline.
The European mission had extended a grant to the BFAR to set up inspection and quality control facilities and help companies meet EU standards.
The International Trade Center extended technical expertise to help BFAR put up the institutions and systems to upgrade the quality of Philippine fishery exports.
Baltazar told the EDC board that BFAR has been moving on track to put up the inspection and quality control system required by the European Commission.
She explained that BFAR is attacking the problem on two fronts: setting up the inspection and quality-control facilities and training people in fish producing regions and prodding the industry players into adopting their own quality control systems to be able to win back their European markets.
The certification system for compliance is being regionalized by enabling BFAR technical people in the regions to efficiently do the job.
The mission found that BFAR personnel lacked technical expertise to certify that private companies are able to qualify with global standards. (Philexport News and Features)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 6, 2006 issue)
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