The Philippine's Department of Trade and Industry’s Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) is taking advantage of the country’s zero tariff privileges in the European Union (EU) to push food exports to the region.
CITEM is taking top Filipino food producing firms to France for this purpose by showcasing their products at the Salon International de l’Alimentation (SIAL) Paris on October 16 to 20.
“Vaunted as the world’s largest food innovation exhibition, SIAL Paris is also the second biggest global food show after Germany’s Anuga. In 2014, SIAL Paris housed 6,500 exhibitors from 104 countries, and welcomed 155,766 visitors from 194,” said CITEM Executive Director Rosvi C. Gaetos.
The Philippines gained the EU-GSP+ beneficiary status in December 2014, giving duty-free access to the EU market for 6,274 Filipino product items. Before, only 2,442 of Philippine products are eligible for zero duty and 3,767 for reduced tariffs.
To be highlighted in SIAL Paris are the Philippines’ EU food export champions – a long line of processed fruits, coconut products, and tuna.
Export value to the EU is 434 million euros for coconut products, 145 million euros for frozen and canned tuna, 519,695 euros for banana chips alone, 4.0 million euros for mangoes and pineapples, and 27 million euros for bakery products and fruit juices, jellies and nuts.
Those products will be showcased in a 180-sqm Food Philippines pavilion for their high quality in a global market with an ever increasing demand for health-promoting and organic foods, and snacks.
The exhibits will also highlight the RIPPLEs Plus participation, a partnership program of the Export Marketing Bureau with the DTI – Regional Operations Group’s Export Pathways Program, which provides potential exporters with capacity-building assistance.
The DTI credited the GSP+ for the 27-percent surge in Philippine exports to the EU in the first half of 2015 to 743 million euros from 584 million euros the previous year.
