RP set to resume aquaculture exports to EU after lifting of ban

The Philippines will resume its exports of aquaculture products to the European Union (EU) next month after the European Commission (EC) lifted its ban on aquaculture imports from the country.

Last July, the EU temporarily stopped the imports of Philippine aquaculture products pending review of the report of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on measures being undertaken to assure the quality and health standards of these exports.

Ambassador Jan de Kok, head of the delegation of the EC to the Philippines, previously said that the Commission now considers as sufficient the Philippine government’s aquaculture monitoring plans.

"The government’s monitoring residues in aquaculture products are adequate enough to enable it to propose re-listing the Philippines as a country eligible for aquaculture products," said de Kok.

The EC submitted its proposal to re-list the Philippines to the EU member-states in the standing committee for food chain and animal health.

The ban included Philippine exports of prawns, milkfish and tilapia.

Export revenues from aquaculture products to Europe last year amounted to over $10 million.

Previously, Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II appealed the suspension.

In a letter to EC Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, Roxas sought the latter’s intercession for the removal of the Philippines from the list of countries facing suspension.

According to Roxas, "inclusion in the list would hurt the aquaculture industry which is essentially comprised of small and medium enterprises from Mindanao where the European Union is involved in development projects."

Roxas assured that Philippine aquaculture exporters have diligently and consistently complied with the EC’s regulation on harmful substances and residues, as proven in all the past shipments where there had been no case of detention due to contamination by harmful substances.

The recommendation to suspend importation of Philippine aquaculture products came from the European Commission Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection.