The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is pushing for improvements on the ease of doing business in the food and beverage (F&B) industry.
ECCP said in its advocacy paper cited one of the long standing issues is the long lead time in the issuance of permits, such as a license to operate (LTO) and certificate for product registration (CPR).
In 2017 through mid-2019, it took companies at least three months to obtain LTO that they have to accomplish first before applying for CPR. The process of using the e-registration for CPR usually lasts for more than four to six months.
“Most of F&B industry members share such challenges on operational delays in putting-up new or expanding businesses, losing opportunities to manufacture and export F&B to neighboring countries, which clearly impede the growth of the industry,” the ECCP said.
It said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cited incomplete requirements and inconsistent entries from the F&B industry applicants, insufficient number of employees and infrastructure coupled with the increasing volume of registrations amid rising economic growth, as reasons for delays in the registration process.
In a bid to improve business facilitation, several FDA issuances were introduced, including the migration of LTO registrations to an online platform and the facilitation of e-registration of CPR for low-risk food products.
