The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. sees the recently inked Tatak Pinoy Act will be a huge step towards raising the food industry and bolstering its competitiveness in the global market.

In a radio interview, a PCAFI official said that the law would aid the national governments in achieving their desire to improve the export production of the Philippines, saying that there has been a negative trade balance in the food sector.

“That is a very good law, and it will satisfy our desire to improve our quality. It will help the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and Department of Agriculture, which are working hard to improve our export products because our exports have decreased and we have a negative trade balance. We need to improve our exports,” said PCAFI president Danilo Fausto.

He, however, stressed that attention to the implementation of the law is necessary to ensure that it is enacted correctly.

 “We have many laws that have been passed, but when it comes to implementation, they are a bit lacking. We need the implementing rules and regulations, the agency that changes the essence of the law,” Fausto said.

Problem with poor labeling

Moreover, the PCAFI official noted that one of the problems the local food industry faces is the lack of appropriate labeling, saying that when we export, there must be labeling from the country of origin.

“When we import to the Middle East, the product that comes in there needs to be... when we export, it needs to have a Middle East label. If it’s Japanese or Korean, our label should have Korean. Meanwhile, when we import a product, we must require that what comes to us has Tagalog.”

Fausto also cited that there are also problems in logistics, shipping, and the supply chain.