PH food sector shapes up for Asean 2015

Companies in the Philippines are urged to start coming up with strategies on how to take advantage of the common Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) market as it moves towards economic integration by 2015.

An offshoot of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) ratified by the country in 1994, the Asean Economic Community will present investment opportunities for Philippine firms both locally and region-wide.

With this in mind, local companies should start formulating strategies to capitalize on the Asean common market and production base with the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital.

For the food sector, the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization (Philfoodex), will lead the way, through the Philippine Food Expo set on May 16-18 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Now on its 12th edition, the Expo will highlight the innovations and trends in the food industry that an economically integrated Southeast Asian region will bring, and how local food players can take advantage of these changes to remain competitive.

According to Philfoodex president Roberto Amores, the event will be a most ideal venue for sourcing and business matching for local and foreign food industry players since the country has many export-quality products still unknown to the world market.

Regarded as the “Only All-Filipino Food Show” the Philippine Food Expo is a must-visit event for ordinary Filipino consumers, to international traders and importers of food products.

Three-day exhibit will also feature a series of technical and business sessions, product demonstrations and special events.

The United States Department of Agriculture gave a lecture on the US Food Safety Act Saturday with Philip Shull, senior diplomat at the Foreign Agricultural Service of the USDA as presenter.

The presentation gave an overview of the recently enacted law, specifically the provisions on “Improving the Safety of Imported Food.” The lecture will also touch the basic difference of this Law from the previous version, and outline the new steps and processes exporters should perform to fully abide with the new provisions to be able to continue exporting to the US.

Updates on the Department of Science and Technology Programs and Services, and Harmonization of the Food Business in the Context of Asean Trade, Philippine Food Safety Act, and Meat Processing Trends and Updates on May 18.

The Philippine Food Expo is held in cooperation with the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport), the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI), the Bureau of Agricultural Research, Far Eastern University, and BCS Systems and Technologies.

For details, call 9494054, 6873292, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or log on to www.philippinefoodexpo.com.