Nutritional and Health Claims and Advertising:
The label of food that is marketed for special dietary uses, e.g., diabetic foods, must include information concerning its vitamin, mineral and other dietary properties as required by the BFAD, and in a manner that fully informs purchasers of the product's intrinsic value in terms of its special use.
BFAD has the authority to prescribe general standards and guidelines for food advertisements. It is also responsible for monitoring and ascertaining the veracity of nutritional and medicinal claims in food advertisements in the various media. BFAD may call upon any manufacturer, distributor, or advertiser to desist from inaccurate or misleading nutritional or medicinal claims in their advertisement. Should any food manufacturer, distributor or advertiser refuse or fail to obey the BFAD order to desist from using false claims, it can be assessed penalties under the law and regulations.
Imported Food Products:
The BFAD requires that importers provide advance copies of the labels of the products they intend to import. This information is required for the registration of imported food and drink products. The content of such labels is scrutinized to establish whether it is acceptable under CODEX and BFAD requirements. Nutritional and medical claims made on such labels are one of the factors considered by BFAD when evaluating applications to register foreign products for import into the Philippines, especially Category II products such as food supplements, infant foods and special dietary foods.
Products that have labels, which make claims that cannot be easily substantiated, can be banned from entry into the country. No labeling for biotechnology or organic products is currently required by the Philippine government Section III.
Packaging and Container Regulations:
Codex Alimentarius and USFDA regulations serve as the Philippine BFAD’s main reference guidelines for policy pertaining to good manufacturing practices and suitability of packaging materials for food use. Hence, compliance with Codex and/or U.S. regulations for packaged foods will almost always assure compliance with Philippine regulations. Importers need, however, to register packaged products with BFAD before they are sold at retail outlets (see Section VI). Section IV. Food Additives Regulations: Food additives must comply with the Philippine Food Act and the regulations that have been established by the BFAD for such products. Food additives are broadly defined by BFAD as "any substance that becomes a component part of a processed food product or otherwise affects the characteristics of the food product." As such, they include any substance which has a direct or indirect impact on the food as a result of its use in producing, manufacturing, processing and preparing the food product, and in packing, treating, packaging, transporting, and/or holding the food product.
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Registration of Processed Food Products:
All processed food products offered for retail sale in the Philippines must be registered with BFAD. Registration of imported products may only be undertaken by a Philippine entity, although some documentation and, for certain types of products, samples need to be provided by the exporter. Products have been divided into two categories with distinct sets of registration requirements and procedures.
Category I includes: bakery & bakery related products; non-alcoholic beverages & beverage mixes; candies & confectionery products; cocoa & cocoa related products; coffee, tea & non-dairy creamer; condiments, sauces & seasonings; culinary products; gelatin, dessert preparation & mixes; dairy products; dressings & spreads; flour/flour mixes & starch; fish & other marine products; fruits, vegetable & edible fungi (prepared); meat and poultry products (prepared); noodles, pastas & pastry wrapper; nut & nut products; native delicacies; oils, fats & shortening; snack foods & breakfast cereals and; sugar & other related products.
Category II includes: alcoholic beverages; food supplements; tea (herbal); bottled drinking water; food for infants and children; foods for special dietary use; transgenic food products (use of genetic engineering/biotechnology) and; ethnic food products with indigenous ingredient(s) not common in the Philippines. An application for registration should be filed by the Philippine importer for the importation and distribution/offer for sale of each class per brand of product. Only products with a valid Certificate of Product Registration from BFAD will be allowed for retail sale in the Philippines.
Import Regulations for Food Products:
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The Philippines is a signatory to the World Trade Organization and has lifted quantitative restrictions (QRs) on imports of food products except for rice. Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs) still remain on a number of sensitive products such as corn, poultry meat, pork, sugar and coffee. Minimum Access Volumes (MAV) has been established for these commodities. The GRP opened its rice market in 2002 when it allowed the private sector, mainly traders, to import rice. Prior to this, the National Food Authority (NFA) was the sole importer of rice. The NFA expanded rice importation to include farmer groups although this sector was inexperienced in rice importation, and therefore, was unable to fill the allocation it was given. Private sector rice imports are assessed a 50-percent tariff rate and import licenses are regulated by the NFA. Imports by the NFA, on the other hand, usually for buffer stock purposes, are imported duty-free. In 2005, the GRP completed negotiations with other WTO members for the extension of its quantitative restrictions on rice. Quarantine clearances that serve as import licenses are required prior to the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as meat and meat products.
All other food product imports do not have licensing requirements except for commodities entering duty-free or subject to an in-quota tariff such as frozen pork, frozen poultry, fresh/chilled potatoes, coffee beans, corn and coffee extract. In all cases, imported meat, fish or produce requires that a registered importer be the receiver of the shipment. Consequently, the importer would have to be knowledgeable about the regulations associated with the particular commodity being imported. Import Regulations for Meat and Meat Products: In September 2005, the DA issued Administrative Order No. 26 (AO 26), which updated its Administrative Order No. 39 (2000) or the “Revised Rules, Regulations and Standards Governing the Importation of Meat and Meat Products into the Philippines.” AO 26 reiterates the need for a DA-accredited importer to obtain a Veterinary Quarantine Clearance (VQC) certificate prior to the importation of meat and meat products. A VQC will now be valid for 60 days from the date of issuance, within which the meat or meat products are to be shipped from the country of origin, and may no longer be extended beyond that. A VQC is non-transferable and can only be used by the consignee to whom it was issued. A one shipment/bill-of-landing per VQC issued policy will be strictly adhered to. At present, all U.S. meat establishments that are regulated and inspected by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are eligible to export meat and poultry to the Philippines.
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