THE BOARD of Investments (BoI) has approved a P548.7-million project of Irradiation Solutions, Inc. (ISI) for an irradiation facility in Tanay, Rizal, serving the farm produce sector.

The company qualified for incentives as a new operator of essential services under Republic Act No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and the 2020 Investment Priorities Plan as a qualified operator of an activity that will help ease the impact of the pandemic.

The BoI said in a statement Monday that the facility will use electron-beam technology to irradiate produce. It is expected to begin operations by June 2023 and employ up to 43 staff.  

“The target customers and clients of this project will importers, exporters and traders. The project will earn its revenue through irradiation treatment fees (on the basis of) pesos per dry weight depending on (the) required dose on kilogray units,” the BoI said.

ISI’s facility has a capacity of 25,000 metric tons (MT) annually, and is set to augment the country’s electron-beam irradiation capacity. 

“At present, the only electron-beam irradiation facility of the country is owned/operated by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DoST-PNRI) with a maximum annual capacity of only around 440 MT,” the BoI said.  

According to the BoI, irradiation is a processing and preservation method that exposes food and other products to ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, x-rays, or accelerated electrons from electron beam machines.

It added that products undergoing irradiation do not become radioactive due to low energy levels used.

“This technology is responsible for the reduction of microbes or decontamination (among spices, herbs, cosmetic raw materials), quarantine treatment (fruits and vegetables), elimination of pathogens (frozen/chilled meat), sprout inhibition (onions, garlic, potatoes) and sterilization (in medical devices, packaging, bone grafts),” BoI said.  

“One advantage of this technology is that products can be treated in its final package form; hence, the products will no longer be opened in the facility before and after the irradiation treatment,” it added.

BoI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said the project is compliant with the government’s pandemic response, particularly in creating food resilience by adopting technology to limit postharvest losses and prolonging the shelf life of agricultural products.  

“It will also promote much-needed additional economic activity throughout the agriculture value chain through increased quality of production as well as enabling local products to be of export quality and thus be able to access wider international markets,” Mr. Rodolfo said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave 

THE PHILIPPINES needs to reform its consumer protection laws in order to offer better protections during the pandemic, according to an ASEAN panel studying individual countries’ regulations.

David Kintanar Rosario, a country expert on the ASEAN peer review team, said in a virtual briefing Monday that the pandemic fast-tracked the shift to a digital economy, where protections need to be upgraded.

“Entering 2020, no one could have foreseen that the world would be in a standstill… there have to be rules and regulations to specifically protect consumers in these online markets,” Mr. Rosario said.

“The rise in online transactions has also led to an increase in unregistered sellers. Unregistered sellers are not only problematic… because (they call) into question the legitimacy of buying and selling online,” he added.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippines is the first country in ASEAN that volunteered to undergo a peer review on consumer protection.

The peer review team had representatives from Malaysia, Vietnam and the ASEAN Secretariat, with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, and regional and country experts.

Mr. Rosario said redundancy in regulatory authority needs to be cleared up.

“You cannot have different government agencies investigating the same item. It may need to be streamlined to promote better efficiency,” Mr. Rosario said.

Anthony A. Abad, a country expert of the peer review team, called for a review of Republic Act No. 7394 or the Consumer Act and other laws in order to upgrade consumer protection.  

Mr. Abad added that rules governing product inspection and warranties are needed.

“A large portion of transactions are in digital form. Digital transactions should not be outside the purview of existing law. It must not be outside of the reach of regulators,” Mr. Abad said.   

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the DTI is addressing the changing environment.

“Being the first country in ASEAN to have volunteered to undergo this peer review, the Philippines and the Filipino consumer stand to benefit from the enforcement of high-level principles on consumer protection. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

AGRICULTURAL LOSSES caused by severe tropical storm Maring (international name: Kompasu) increased to P2.14 billion from the prior estimate of P1.87 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The DA said in a bulletin early Monday that Maring affected 76,442 farmers and fisherfolk and 85,744 hectares of agricultural land in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, the Western Visayas, and Soccsksargen.

Maring also caused the loss of 101,818 metric tons (MT) worth of output of rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries. Losses and damage were also reported by irrigation and agricultural facilities.

Rice losses were valued at P1.5 billion across 74,460 hectares of farmland. The lost volume estimate was 83,719 MT.

Damage to high-value crops was P199.4 million, including 9,200 MT of assorted vegetables and fruit trees. Some 2,689 hectares of agricultural land were affected.

Corn losses totaled P148.2 million, or 8,899 MT in volume terms across 8,595 hectares of farmland.

Fisheries damage amounted to P110.1 million while livestock and poultry losses were estimated at P84.8 million.

Damage to irrigation and agricultural facilities totaled P140.6 million, including diversion dams, small water irrigation projects, communal irrigation systems, check dams, nurseries, demo farms, and farm to market roads.  — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave