February 17, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) wants the country’s salt imports to be shipped out from their countries of origin within two months from approval of their sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs).
The draft salt importation guidelines stipulate that the SPSIC issued by BFAR for food-grade and non-food grade imported salt shall be valid for two months starting from the date of issuance.
This means that the imported salt product must be shipped out of its country of origin within 60 days or else the SPSIC would expire automatically or be canceled.
The SPSIC is a document issued by a competent government authority, which certifies that an imported commodity – in this case salt – is safe for human consumption and does not pose any threat to human, animal or plant life.
Under the draft rules, the SPSIC will indicate the period for which the actual salt shipment should have left its country of origin.
“No food grade or non-food grade salt shall be imported without a sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance issued covering such importation,” the draft guidelines read.
The document is also issued by other government agencies such as the Bureau of Plant Industry and Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for the importation of plant and animal products, respectively.
Government agencies have varying validity periods for the SPSICs that they issue depending on the concerned imported product. For example, SPSIC for rice imports are valid for 60 days while those for meat imports are valid within 90 days upon issuance.
The draft guidelines also stipulate that the total volume of imported salt in the future could be limited to the standing requirement of the country based on the utilization performance of importers.
“Subsequent issuances shall be based on the volume requirement that can be substantiated after disposition and inventory, which shall not exceed the individual total volume imported from the previous year,” the draft rules state.
Salt importers must apply for SPSIC for at least five working days for the issuance of the document prior to the departure of their shipments from a country of origin, based on the document.
“No shipment shall depart from the country of origin without an SPSIC,” it said.
The draft guidelines noted that it has taken into consideration pertinent provisions of various existing laws in the country with the aime of streamlining existing policies and procedures to expedite bureaucratic transactions in line with the Ease of Doing Business Act.
Sources said BFAR has been undertaking multiple dialogue last year with pertinent government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), BAI and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority to discuss the salt importation guidelines.
One of the goals of the salt importation guidelines is to harmonize the eixsting rules and regulations by various government agencies related to the importation of various salt products and grades.
The draft guidelines cover both food-grade and non-food grade salt pursuant to Section 22 of the Salt Industry Development Act.
For food-grade salt, all salt importers must secure a license to operate (LTO) as an importer from the FDA. Importers bringing non-food grade salt for industrial use must secure an LTO from BFAR while those importing agricultural-grade salt fertilizer must get their LTO from FPA.
Lastly, importers of salt for animal feed must secure LTO from BAI.
The draft rules would be presented during multiple public consultations next month to solicit comments from concerned stakeholders before it would be finalized and approved by the agriculture secretary.
Salt imports have been critical following the enactment into law of the Salt Industry Development Act since tariffs collected from the imported commodity would be earmarked for the development of the domestic salt industry.
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