Go Negosyo
founder Joey Concepcion
shared that international testing, inspection and
certification company SGS
has offered to inspect – at
no cost to the government
– imported agricultural
products entering the Philippines.
In his meeting with Concepcion last
March 31, SGS Vice President and Regional Operations Manager (Asia)
George Bottomley discussed how the SGS system can help monitor leakages in trade and provide
data analysis to increase
trade revenues and opportunities for the Philippines.
The Geneva- based SGS
operates locally as SGS
Philippines and has offices and laboratories across
the country. In total, SGS
has 97,000 employees in
2,650 offices and laboratories worldwide.
According to
Concepcion, SGS plans
on charging its fees to
the exporters of agricul
tural products to the Philippines. “SGS’s offer is
to inspect all agricultural products coming in to
the Philippines, and it will
now be the exporters who
will have to pay to send
their agricultural products
here,” he said.
“The issue on agricultural smuggling is real,
and I think any effort to
help curb it is worth looking into,” said Concepcion.
He said SGS’s proposal
will be referred to the relevant public and private
sector bodies, such as the
Department of Agriculture
and the Private Sector Advisory Council for agriculture.
He added that
eradicating smuggling and
undervaluation of agricultural goods complements
efforts to help strengthen local agriculture. “It
comes just in time as more
companies have become
interested in joining our
KALAP initiative,” said
Concepcion. Just recently, the country’s leading
banks and financial institutions met with KALAP and
expressed their support of
its efforts to ease farmers’
access to credit.
KALAP, or Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program, is an initiative of
Go Negosyo to help the
country’s small farmers
integrate into the value
chain of large companies.
Its proponents have begun
drafting its roadmap to implement inclusive business models for primary
agricultural commodities
in the country.
SGS’s Bottomley
emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and quality of agricultural products in the country,
as well as how SGS can
assist farmers and agribusinesses by providing
testing and certification
services. He also affirmed
the commitment of SGS to
promote sustainable agriculture practices through
its programs and initiatives. P
