THE United States has raised concerns anew over the Philippines’s non-issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPS-IC), seen to restrict farm imports, as Washington sought further explanation from Manila at a recent World Trade Organization (WTO) committee meeting.
During the WTO Committee on Agriculture meeting last June 17, the US said it is still “concerned” that the Philippines is using SPS-IC permits for purposes other than protecting human, animal or plant life or health.
In previous COA meetings and various communications to the WTO, the US revealed that the Philippines has been using SPS-IC to manage the arrival of agricultural imports in the country, so they do not coincide with domestic harvests.
“The United States is still concerned that SPS-IC permits are used for purposes other than ensuring that imported agricultural products meet the standards to protect human, animal, or plant life or health,” it said in its question raised at the meeting.
In its query, the US brought up more pieces of evidence pertaining to the Philippine Department of Agriculture’s decision to “manage the issuance of SPS-IC,” particularly the timing of the import arrivals, in order to prevent them from coinciding with local harvest.
The US cited the October 22, 2020 hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, where a high-ranking agriculture official told senators they will come up with an administrative order to manage the arrival of rice imports.
The US side also pointed to an October 16, 2020 Senate Committee on Finance meeting, where Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar told lawmakers that his department had “institutionalized [a] management strategy” to prevent the entry of feed wheat during the main harvest of corn.
“These statements point to the Department of Agriculture using SPS-IC permits to restrict imports of various products for reasons other than those stated by the Philippines in their reply to Ag IMS 96015,” the United States said.
In its response to an earlier query made by the US in a WTO November meeting last year, the Philippines said the SPS-ICs “serve to ensure that the products being imported meet the standards to protect human, animal, or plant life or health.”
Due to this, the US side asked the Philippines how managing the timing of import arrivals through SPS-ICs is “an effective tool to protect human, animal or plant life or health.”
“Please explain the role of the Secretary of Agriculture and the DA Bureaus in reviewing and approving SPS-IC issuances,” Washington added.
US officials sought an explanation from the Philippines as well on why the DA-Bureau of Animal Industry did not issue any SPS-ICs for the importation of whole chicken in March,and July to December of last year.
Furthermore, the United States asked the Philippines to explain why the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry did not issue any SPS-ICs for rice imports during certain time periods of last year.
In April, the BusinessMirror reported that Washington had raised the same concerns during a WTO Committee on Import Licensing meeting. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/04/26/us-questions-phl-use-of-sps-ic-in-agri-imports/)