THE Philippines has forged a partnership with the Korean government to further boost fishery exports.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar met with Korea’s Deputy Director Soo-jin Cho and Assistant Director Chan-hwei of the Imported Food Inspection Management (IFIM) Friday to complete the plans for the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on food safety of Philippine exports to Korea.

IFIM is under the Korea Ministry of Food and Drugs Safety (MFDS).

On December 20, 2021, the Philippine Agriculture Office (PAO) in Seoul facilitated and finalized the signing of the special MRA between MFDS and the DA’s – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) that will be finally executed on June 20, 2022.

Secretary Dat underscored the importance of the MRA meetings as it will build better relationship between the two countries and at the same time usher in increased exports of Philippine seafood and fisheries products while ensuring food safety for the Korean consumers.

Not only that, the MRA according to the DA chief, will also facilitate digitalization and efficient export document submission through the implementation of e-health certification of fresh and processed fishery products from the Philippines bound for Korea, said Maria Aleli Maghirang, agriculture attache to Korea.

During their stay in the Philippines, the Korean mission also visited Cebu and General Santos to inspect the operations and food safety compliance of three Filipino agri-fishery processing business firms.

The Koreans made their stops at the Siargao Bounty Seafood Corp., Philippine Union Frozen Fish Inc., and MK Smoked Fish Corp. which are the three leadinig exporters of Philippine octupos, abalone and smoked fish to Korea.

As per MFDS, this far, among the nine countries they have an MRA, the Philippines which is the fastest to implement after six months of finalization.

The country will be also the first among the fisheries trading partners of MFDS to adapt the e-certification system, said Dr. Cho.

Secretary Dar said that the Philippines enjoys a favorable balance of trade with Korea, despite some production and logistical challenges during the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, registering a surplus of more than US$ 288 million last year.

In 2021, the Philippines exported US$526 M worth of various farm and fishery products, which is 20 percent higher than in 2020.

Of the total, fishery products amounted to US$ 29.5 M last year, majority of which are high-value products like octopus, abalone, black tiger prawns, sea cucumber, and smoked tuna.