The European Union (EU) reaffirmed its opposition to the country-wide bans imposed by the Philippines on areas affected by animal diseases, questioning their consistency with global standards and their impact on the importation of meat commodities.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the 27-member bloc raised this matter during the recent meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures.

The committee is a forum where members of the WTO discuss issues and present trade concerns related to SPS, which are non-tariff trade barriers implemented by countries to protect humans, animals, and plants against risks such as diseases.

The panel most recently convened from June 17 to 19, during which the EU identified “the Philippines’ trade restrictions on imports of meat” as among its major trade concerns. Russia was cited as a supporting member on this issue.

While details of the concern are currently not publicly available, the trade concerns database of the WTO showed that the EU has been opposing the Philippine policy since November 2019.

At the time, the EU questioned the Philippines’ country-wide bans on imports of meat products from nine of its member states on the grounds of the African swine fever (ASF).

The EU argued that the bans were not based on the standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health, particularly the regionalization principles.

It recalled that Germany, which at that point never had an outbreak of ASF on its territory, was still met with an import ban by the Philippines, which it described as a “disproportionate and unjustified reaction.”

The EU said the bans were inconsistent with Article 6 of the SPS Agreement under the WTO, which stated that any policy should adapt to regional conditions, whether all of a country, part of a country, or all or parts of several countries.

The Philippines responded then that its measures were based on the global standards for regionalization, noting that the restrictions were a provisional precautionary measure as aligned with Article 5.7 of the SPS Agreement.

The country pointed out that there is an “alarming dispersion” as to the effectiveness of the interventions by the EU member states on their respective mitigation schemes to control ASF.

In June 2020, the EU once again brought up the issue, this time including the bans based on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or otherwise known as bird flu.

In July 2021, Russia joined the EU in its opposition to the Philippine policy, specifically questioning the restrictions on imports of beef and pork despite its control measures to manage the spread of animal diseases.

Based on the WTO’s database, the latest available public information of the trade concern is the SPS Committee meeting in March of this year, wherein the EU reiterated its issue with the Philippines' country-wide bans.

“To the European Union, these bans, which had been in place for several years, were inconsistent with the SPS Agreement. The European Union informed that it had provided information and guarantees on its control measures to ensure trade only from disease-free areas and a study visit had taken place in 2024 for the Philippines to assess the strict EU controls,” the EU said.

“The European Union hoped the Philippines would allow trade from disease-free zones,” it added.

In response, the Philippines said it had recognized several EU members for HPAI regionalization, with some bilateral agreements already established while others are in the advanced stages of finalization.

“The Philippines had informed the EU Commission that its regulatory framework for HPAI regionalization was based on individual, bilateral recognitions,” it said.

Last month, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Livestock Constante Palabrica said the country is set to introduce the regionalization scheme to allow the entry of poultry products despite other areas of the exporting country affected by HPAI.

This is a move away from the blanket ban on a country despite only a certain region or regions are facing the threat of bird flu.

According to Palabrica, Poland, Spain, and Portugal are applying to benefit from this scheme. The United Kingdom, which is no longer a member of the EU, has also applied.

“We're moving fast on the regionalization. Rest assured that it will be done,” he told reporters.

Based on the WTO’s website, the Philippines told the EU that it was advancing its regionalization guidelines for ASF.

This month, the DA lifted the temporary ban on the importation of animal products from Belgium and Germany after their respective cases of animal diseases were resolved.

Import fees suspended

In another move to lift barriers to trade, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has temporarily suspended the implementation of new fees and charges for the services it provides following concerns from various sectors.

In January of this year, the FDA issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 2024-0016 to impose higher fees and charges on services such as the issuance of a certificate of product registration (CPR).

The CPR, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) in Manila, is a required document before importing processed and prepackaged food products intended for retail sale in the Philippines.

USDA-FAS Manila said the one-year fee for CPR of low-risk food products increased by 1,400 percent from ₱200 to ₱3,000.

Low-risk food products refer to those that are unlikely to contain pathogenic microorganisms, such as breakfast cereals, bread, sweeteners, honey, and alcoholic beverages.

“Feedback from various sectors and stakeholders, especially related to the substantial increase in fees, prompted the suspension,” USDA-FAS Manila said.

Beginning June 10, AO No. 2024-0016 is suspended for 60 working days.

During this period, the fees and charges for services shall be reverted to its previous levels.