February 22, 2005

Philippines to lift ban on EU meat

The Philippines has agreed to relax the ban on European meat, imposed because of the mad-cow disease scare, in hopes that Europe will also lift the ban on the country's fisheries exports.

These matters were among the bilateral trade issues tackled at the 4th Philippines-European Commission (EC) Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM-4) held in Brussels last week.

In a communiqu¨¦, the EC delegation to Manila noted that progress was made on various discussions on economic and trade relations.

The ban on beef from the European Union was a central point of focus in discussions, which ended with the Philippines committing itself to a complete assessment that mean a lifting of the ban for some EU states such as Italy, Denmark, and Luxemburg within three months, with more to follow. 

Another important issue discussed was the safety of fisheries exports from the Philippines to the EU.

The Philippines, which has registered its request to begin importing meat and meat products from the EU, has also reassured its European counterparts that competent authorities on its side are working to guarantee the safety of its fisheries exports to the EU.