DTI, DA join hands to boost agri exports

The Departments of Trade and Agriculture are designing a product traceability system that will allow local agro-industrial products to meet international standards.

Adoption of this system is expected to help the country grab a bigger share of the global market for agro-industrial products, the DTI said Monday in a statement.

“Through this traceability system, the movement of food products in the supply chain will be tracked to document distribution and production inputs and processes. Hence, the system will help identify the cause of any food safety concern or quality problem for stakeholders to take prompt corrective measures,” the agency explained.

According to the DTI, a three-year, $5.8-million joint project, dubbed “Program on Philippine Traceability for Revitalized Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement (P-TRACE),” is currently being crafted with the help of other national government agencies such as the National Economic Development Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Agrarian Reform, Food and Drug Administration and Department of Finance, with the technical cooperation of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido).

The project will likely be funded under a “debt-for-development swap” agreement with the Italian government, through the Italian Cooperation Agency.

“We hope to implement P-TRACE within the year. We already identified five priority projects in the agriculture and fisheries sector. These projects cover banana chips and crackers, fresh and processed pineapples, desiccated coconut, chilled tuna and dried mango,” said Merly M. Cruz, DTI Undersecretary for Regional Operations and Development.

“With P-TRACE in place, we expect our farmers and food producers to meet international food quality, safety and traceability standards, warranting that Philippine products are safe and do not run into barriers to trade,” Cruz added.

Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat added that the “P-TRACE will not only benefit our local consumers but also our exporters.”