Luzon A DA-RFOs draw up IEC plans on AEC

Recognizing the need for more extensive information dissemination and advocacy efforts on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the Department of Agriculture, through its Policy Research Service (DA-PRS), and the Philippine Council for Agriculture (PCAF) spearheaded the Area-Wide Seminar-Workshop on the AEC 2015 for DA-Regional Field Offices (RFOs) from the Luzon A Cluster last September 29 and 30 at the Lewis Grand Hotel, Pampanga.

This is the first of five-part series of seminar-workshops supported by the “Strengthening Capacities in Agricultural and Fishery Trade Negotiations and Agreements” project of the DA and the National Agricultural and Fishery Council, one of the two precursor agencies of the PCAF.

The undertaking served as a venue for key DA-RFO officials from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Region 1, Region 2 and Region 3 to formulate their respective information, education and communication (IEC) plans detailing their strategies for creating awareness, understanding and appreciation of the AEC among agri-fishery stakeholders and partners in their locale.

To aid the participants in their discussions, resource speakers Carolyn Castro of the Office of the DA  Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, Research & Development, DA-PRS OIC Noel Padre and DA-International Cooperation Division OIC Noel de Luna discussed the Historical Background on ASEAN Integration Initiatives Contributing and Leading to the AEC by 2015, the Philippines’ AEC Commitments Relating to Agriculture and Fisheries Sectors and Compliance on Integration Measures Affecting Trade in Goods, and the Philippines’ AEC Commitments on Food, Agriculture and Fisheries under the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF).

The event’s overall coordinator, Julieta Opulencia of the PCAF, also reported on the outputs of the five Area-Wide Orientations on the AEC 2015 for stakeholders conducted last year that focused on the integration initiatives affecting the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

During the workshop, participants from each region came up with IEC activities in aid of the country’s preparation for the AEC integration, harnessing print, broadcast and online media and other communication channels.

Among the activities lined up are radio guestings, radio plugs, television commercials, production and distribution of publication and audio-visual materials on AEC, integration of the advocacy on AEC in trainings and seminars, mainstreaming AEC in congresses, meetings and other forums, and creation of a speakers’ bureau.

Also included in the plans are the conduct of information caravans, briefings and orientations locally and trainings on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP), Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) and other agricultural safety and accreditation standards and procedures for stakeholders.

Aside from advocacy and awareness efforts, the participants also aimed for the accreditation and certification of good practices of farmers/farmers’ groups, upgrading of existing laboratory facilities, provision of marketing assistance to stakeholders, profiling of GAP-certified products, and enhancement of regional animal and plant quarantine/food safety measures.

The road to the AEC

With the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community, the ASEAN will become “a single market and production base, a highly competitive region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.”

In her presentation, Castro shared that the AEC is the logical progression of the ASEAN’s economic integration efforts initiated in the early 1990s. Among these efforts are the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services, and ASEAN Investment Area.

Under the AFTA, the ASEAN-6, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have brought down their tariffs for all products, including sensitive agricultural products, to 0-5 percent range in 2010 except for highly sensitive products like rice.

For Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, the elimination of tariffs will be fully realized in 2015 except for tariff lines under the 7 percent flexibility, which will be eliminated in 2018.

Meanwhile, Castro stressed that the AEC is not a customs union like the European Union as there are no common external (non-ASEAN countries) tariff rates and no common monetary unit. She also added that the AEC will not only “happen” in 2015 as ASEAN countries are ideally starting to reap the benefits of the ASEAN Community especially as most of the measures are already in place.

The AEC is only one of the three in integral pillars of the envisioned ASEAN Community, along with the ASEAN Security Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. All these three pillars are expected to work in tandem in establishing the ASEAN Community in 2015.

Under the AMAF, the AEC commitments on food, agriculture and fisheries by 2015 is the establishment of GAP, GAHP, GAqP, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point based systems (HACCP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) of commonly used pesticides, among others.

“Under the AMAF, harmonization of standards is ongoing for crops and horticultural produce, MRLs for pesticides, animal vaccines, accreditation of livestock establishments and livestock products, among others,” de Luna said in his presentation.

Padre, on the other hand, presented the country’s top agri-fishery exports which include coconut oil, fresh banana, tuna, pineapple and pineapple products, indicating that among our largest export markets are non-ASEAN countries like the USA, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, China, Korea, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Singapore.

“Our top import sources are also non-ASEAN partners although the ASEAN is the top source of rice, coffee and corn. Upon examining our Agricultural Trade Balance sheet, it seems that we are not able to really take advantage of the preferential tariffs accorded under ASEAN because there is no dramatic increase in our exports even though our imports are decreasing,” he said.

United efforts

While acknowledging that wide-reaching awareness campaign should have been instigated early on, DA Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development Orlan Calayag, in his speech, stressed that the country cannot afford to play the ‘blame game’ anymore.

“We can leave our negative feelings behind, accept our shortcomings and learn from them. The challenge for us now is finding what our strengths are and take advantage of those strengths,” he said, adding that the DA’s efforts in the past years are geared towards increasing the country’s competitiveness in the AEC.

Stressing the importance of establishing good communication not only with the stakeholders but also among government agencies, ASec. Calayag commended the participants’ proposed effort to involve local government officials in their respective IEC campaigns as it will give way to a well-informed government and a unified voice for the nation.

He then underscored that government communication efforts should be able to convey to the farmers, fisherfolk and other stakeholders the benefits that they can gain in the AEC.

“Our communication should also be two-way. We should be able to provide them the venue to communicate their feedback and give their inputs,” ASec. Calayag stressed.

Local Support and Coordination Division Chief Elmer Estiandan also graced the event to relay PCAF Deputy Executive Director Florabelle Uy-Yap’s message to the participants. In her speech, Dir. Yap highlighted the significance of the proposed efforts of the DA-RFO officials as these will aid the country with its initiatives for the AEC.

Once completed, the outputs of all the five seminar-workshops will be consolidated and forwarded to the Office of the DA Secretary for possible endorsement and fund support of the DA-RFOs, national banner programs and other concerned agencies.

source: http://nafc.da.gov.ph/NAFCNEWs/2014/area-wide.html