Department of Agriculture acts to boost herbal industry

MANILA, Philippines – Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told herbal industry leaders that the government would help increase linkages between raw material producers and manufacturers to ensure the quality, reliability and safety of Filipino herbal products.

Improving the quality, reliability and safety of local herbal products is crucial for local herbal industry players to penetrate the multi-billion-dollar global wellness sector.

Yap said the government is ready to partner with the herbal industry from the production stage to the marketing and packaging phases to help transform their products into export winners.

He said the DA is willing to invest in crops to produce the raw materials that the herbal industry uses to make organic foods, personal care and wellness products, and food supplements, “if Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines (CHIP) members will commit to purchase them to guarantee income for farmers.”

The CHIP has over 50 member-companies, which include manufacturers, distributors, suppliers of raw materials, service providers, scientists, academics and inventors in the areas of natural, herbal organic food products, health products, food supplements and personal care products.

“If you can give us the downstream support in terms of orders, we are willing to invest so that farmers can plant the raw materials that are needed to produce herbal and organic products,” Yap said.

The DA head added that “this is the kind of partnership that the DA can forge with your industry.”

Yap said the DA is ready to train farmers so they can apply the necessary technologies to commercialize the production of raw materials.

One of the CHIP’s major goals is for the industry to hit $1 billion in exports by 2010.

The CHIP is banking on the vast Filipino expatriate sector to help it reach  goal. its

The organization considers the Middle East as the next biggest market for herbal products after North America, considering that the Middle East has one of the highest concentrations of Filipino expatriates.

In Dubai alone, the CHIP estimates that there are about 500,000 Filipino expatriates who are potential buyers of herbal products.

Yap said that in this aspect, the DA can assist the industry by subsidizing part of the fees necessary for the CHIP’s member-companies to take part in international trade shows and exhibits overseas.

“This is what I am trying to do in the DA, which is why under my term, the DA has been setting aside funds for farmers who are into downstream products and want to sell locally and abroad,” Yap said.

“We have been setting aside money for producers who go abroad for trade fairs or food exhibits, and we have also been trying to help them right now with their packaging needs,” he added. — Marianne V. Go, Philippine Star