THE export promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to further expand the trade relationship between the Philippines and the European Union (EU) as it leads a delegation of food exporters in Anuga from October 7 to 11 at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.
The Center for International Trade and Expositions and Missions (Citem) is set to feature the country’s export-competitive products from 19 food companies under the FoodPHILIPPINES industry brand.
“The Philippines’s participation in Anuga is part of DTI’s overarching efforts to step up the export drive in EU member-states and take advantage of the Philippines’s zero tariff privileges under the EU’s current Generalized System of Preferences Plus, or GSP+, scheme,” Citem Executive Director Clayton Tugonon said.
Known as the world’s largest and most important food and beverage fair, Anuga presents a combination of 10 specialized trade shows under one roof, showcasing the diverse product selection in the global food industry. This year around 160,000 visitors are expected to join the five-day event to check out the latest and most innovative products from around 7,200 global exhibitors.
In 2015 35 Philippine companies netted $67.7-million export sales in Anuga. For 2017, DTI-Citem is targeting $62 million.
“Despite coming with a smaller delegation, we are not pulling any stops with our high export target. We have carefully selected 19 food companies that are primed for the European market, each capable of showcasing the best of what the Philippines have to offer,” Tugonon said.
Aside from food-tasting activities, the Philippine delegation will also participate in business-matching activities during the event.
The EU is ranked as the Philippines’s fourth-largest trading partner, third largest import source and fourth-largest export market.
In 2016 the Philippines’s external trade in goods with the EU states totaled $13.713 billion, or a 9.7-percent share of the country’s total trade, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Exports to the EU reached $6.97 billion, or 12.1 percent of the total export receipts, while imports were valued at $6.743 billion, or 8-percent share to total import, resulting to a balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) surplus of $227.74 million.
Among the EU member-countries, Germany is the Philippines’s top trading partner with a total trade of $4.357 billion, or 31.8 percent of EU’s total trade. Revenue from export to Germany amounted to $2.329 billion while payments for imports were worth $2.028 billion, or a trade surplus of $301.32 million.
Within the EU, 90 percent of EU-Philippine trade is concentrated among eight EU member-states—Germany, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Denmark.
As of now, the Philippines is enjoying a special trade arrangement and incentives with European countries as one of the 30 countries listed under EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences. Under the EU GSP, developing countries can export goods with reduced tariffs entering the EU to stimulate economic growth and job creation in their economies. The Philippines avails itself of the zero preferential duties on 6,274 products going to EU states.
FoodPHILIPPINES is the industry brand for the food sector that unifies the overseas promotional efforts of Citem, the DTI’s export promotions arm. Under this industry brand, the Philippines is positioned as Asia’s most exciting sourcing destination for food exports, being one of the world’s top exporters of tropical fruits and marine products.