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Double
standards in food manufacturing I was surprised by a recent ban on more than 500 processed food exports from the Philippines by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). After all, some of the companies whose products were barred include major food and beverage manufacturers such as Universal Robina Corp., Nestle Philippines, Kraft Foods and Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. The products blocked included shrimp paste or bagoong, noodles, candies, soft drinks and fruit-based beverages. Bagoong, I can understand, but to ban soft drinks manufactured and bottled by a world-known company like Coca Cola was quite puzzling. Between February 2003 and February this year, data showed that more than 500 products were detained by the US Customs, which is authorized by the USFDA to reject shipments that fail to comply with safety and health standards set by the agency. So are we eating food that is inferior to the squeaky clean standards of our American friends? Or are these Caucasians just picky or even discriminatory (in the ethnic sense) about the food they put in their mouth? Two standards The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) apparently met immediately with food exporters including the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization Inc. (Philfoodex) to find out exactly how this happened. In defense, the legitimate food exporters said they were not entirely at fault. They did comply with the USFDA standards when exporting their products, or at least those that are manufactured exclusively for the export market. As it turns out, some exporters follow two standards of food processing, one for the international market, and another one for the domestic market. Products exported undergo a more expensive process to bring them up to world-class standards. Food for local consumption, on the other hand, apparently does not undergo the same rigid processes and systems. So we Filipinos are indeed gobbling (and even enjoying) food that is not up to par with international standards. Trying to pull a fast one It seems that the availability of similar or identical food products but manufactured with different quality standards presented opportunities for some unscrupulous traders and consolidators to surreptitiously ship some of these cheaper and lower quality products to the US. A few more cents in profit is understandably a more tempting incentive for such entities even faced with the risk of having their shipments destroyed. Food manufacturers and exporters defended the "quality" of their products; at the same time, they blamed (though not for media consumption) the traders who slyly shipped out their not-for-export quality products. Government agencies are now on the look-out for these traders and consolidators. In the first place, our government should perhaps castigate food manufacturers for putting up two kinds of products. Makes you wonder whether the local market is getting the right value for money. Or are we paying relatively high prices for local production to enable exporters to subsidize the high manufacturing cost of products to be sold in the international market? Gearing up to stringent world standards The USFDA ban should push food exporters to rethink their flawed system and take a hard look at improving the quality of their products whether these are for the export markets or for the local market. If the industry doesn’t get its act together, we are talking about losing some $7 billion worth of export revenues to the country’s biggest trading partner. Philfoodex recently asked P150-million from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) to bankroll its plans to upgrade facilities and conform to US and European Union quality standards. The funding should help boost their production systems to include good management practices, therefore leading to attaining hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) standards and other food safety requirements. This certificate guarantees that a product is clean, safe and fit for human consumption. This is important in a big market like the US whose consumers are increasingly becoming health conscious. The USFDA requires a HACCP test before products are exported. This is a very stiff requirement for the micro, small and medium food companies, which at this point, do not have the financial capability to support this undertaking. But still, such certification becomes even more urgent considering that the country’s ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia) neighbors like Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia have all been certified. No wonder products from these countries dominate the shelves of oriental supermarkets in the US. Clearly, Filipino processed food exporters should tighten their ranks to weed out those not willing to meet international standards and those engaged in unscrupulous and irresponsible trading practices. Even if just a single product is found to be substandard, the entire industry risks being lumped together and branded as unsafe or non-compliant. Before making an appeal to the US to open up their markets to food exporters, local manufacturers and exporters should first comply with the rigid requirements or lose all chances of regaining their credibility.
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