US, Australia seek clarification on Philippines first border facility rules

MANILA, Philippines — The US and Australia will question at a World Trade Organization (WTO) committee if the forthcoming operationalization of the Philippines’ first border will impede the flow of imported goods that have been inspected by competent authorities.

The two developed countries have tabled five questions for the two-day meeting of the WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) that started Wednesday regarding the Philippines’ Cold Examination Facility for Agriculture (CEFA) project.

The US and Australia are inquiring regarding the status of the guidelines or regulations governing the implementation of CEFA, particularly for the inspection and testing of agricultural goods.

The two countries are seeking clarification on whether the rules have been finalized and if the Philippines will operationalize the CEFA even without the notification of necessary guidelines to its trade partners.

The two countries cited media reports that the DA would soon utilize a CEFA as late as this year or early 2025. They noted that the Philippines answered in a WTO CoA meeting last year that the guidelines for the inspection and testing of imported agricultural products once CEFA becomes online are yet to be finalized.

The two countries are also concerned if the changes in the inspection regime would be notified to the WTO to allow its trade partners to provide comments on the new regulations.

Furthermore, they expressed caution that the new inspection rules of the country may “unduly” impede the movement of imported agricultural products.

“What steps are the Philippines taking to ensure that imports that have already been inspected, certified by the competent authority at the point of origin, and cleared by the Philippine customs and quarantine officials at the port of entry will not be unduly impeded or undergo a second border inspection at the CEFAs?” they said.

Earlier this year, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said three CEFAs – located in the ports of Manila, Subic in Clark and General Santos in Mindanao- could come online by September next year.

The CEFA, considered as the country’s first border facility, is being touted by the government as a state-of-the-art examination facility capable of scrutinizing all imported agricultural commodities.

The facility is part of the government’s efforts to curb smuggling and strengthen the state’s capacity against animal diseases and pests.

The facilities would also allow various food safety regulatory agencies to conduct mandatory inspections of imported farm products pursuant to their mandates under the Food Safety Act of 2013.

In a related development, other WTO member-countries have lodged questions at the WTO CoA meeting about the implementation of the minimum access volume (MAV) system on pork imports by the Philippines.

The US and Canada are asking for a “detailed” explanation from the Philippine government regarding the dates and quantities of its pork MAV allocations for the year.

The STAR earlier reported that the Department of Agriculture (DA) made moves to limit the importation of pork under the country’s MAV mechanism by rationalizing the import quota allocation and releasing it in tranches contrary to previous rules.