General Tuna seeks tax relief

General Tuna Corp., the export arm of food company Century Pacific Group, is seeking tax breaks for its expansion project in General Santos City, the Board of Investments (BOI) said in a notice published Friday.

The firm has applied for incentives with the BOI as an expanding export producer of frozen cooked tuna loins with an annual capacity of 374,727 cases.

Perks enjoyed by BOI-registered enterprises include an income tax holiday and exemption from paying duties on imported equipment.

The products of General Tuna include private label canned, pouched and frozen tuna.

Its plant was initially located in Taguig City before it moved its facility to General Santos City in 1999 to take advantage of the city’s proximity to the supply of fresh tuna.

General Santos City is near proven tuna fishing grounds such as the Western Pacific Ocean and the waters between Southern Philippines and Indonesia, ensuring the availability and freshness of fish.

The Century food group last year teamed up with leading global tuna supplier Thai Union and local fishing giant Frabelle to build a $20-million tuna processing plant in Papua New Guinea.

The new plant in Papua New Guinea will have an initial daily capacity of 120 metric tons but plans are in place to eventually upgrade to 300 to 350 MT. Ana G. Roa