DTI seeks feedback on food standards

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its attached agency, the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), is seeking feedback from stakeholders to a recommendation to adopt several new food product standards.

The BPS identified four international standards on food products published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that are being considered to be adopted under the Philippine National Standards (PNS).

The first is ISO 18787:2017, which establishes basic principles and specifies requirements for determining the water activity of food products for human consumption and animal feed.

Another is ISO 18449:202, which defines terms for classifying and assessing green tea for commerce.

The third is ISO 20715:2023, which establishes a classification for the types of tea produced from the plant Camellia sinensis.

The last is ISO 20716:2022, which specifies the parts of a named plant that are suitable for making oolong tea for consumption as a beverage and the chemical requirements for the said tea used to indicate that tea from that source has been produced under good production practices.

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The BPS said that the adoption of these standards “is in line with good standardization practice and is consistent with the Philippines’ commitment to the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) agreement.”

Further, the DTI’s attached agency said these standards are also expected to facilitate immediate access to international standards by local companies, industries, academe, consumers, testing and research institutions, professional associations, and other stakeholders.

The BPS said they will be accepting comments, inputs, or other concerns that will be emailed to [email protected]. until July 24.