DA works with private sector, Congress for salt industry dev’t

FILE: LOCAL INDUSTRY. A worker scatters salt for drying in Barangay Banog Norte, Bani, Pangasinan on Saturday (April 29, 2023). (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA – The government is awaiting the passage of bills that would modernize the salt industry.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) national director Demosthenes Escoto said the law needs updating.

“The existing law that we have on salt is still the old salt law, the old Iodization Act. There is a written initiative in the Congress and Senate, so the House of Representatives will pass the bill. For Senate, it will be open for deliberation on the plenary,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

In May, House Bill (HB) 8278, or the proposed Philippine Salt Industry Development Act, was approved with an overwhelming 287 votes.

The measure is listed by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council as one of the priority measures of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Under the measure, salt – whether unprocessed or processed – is classified as a basic agricultural product with all its necessary legal and regulatory implications.

“The DA shall also ensure that salt is a priority commodity to be produced locally in areas or regions identified in this Act, as well as in the development plan for the salt industry,” the bill read.

HB 8278 also creates the Philippine Salt Industry Development Council to ensure the unified and integrated implementation of the roadmap and accelerate the modernization and industrialization of the Philippine salt industry.

The Senate versions are still under scrutiny.

“The good thing is that these particular bills have been included as priority bills of the President. We are hoping that by this year, a new salt law will be implemented and will be effective,” Escoto added.

Republic Act 8172 or An Act Promoting Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN), signed in 1995, is meant to protect and promote the health of the people, maintain an effective food regulatory system, and provide the entire population with proper nutrition.

The Department of Trade and Industry, Cooperative Development Authority, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Science and Technology are also mandated to assist and support local salt producers/manufacturers in upgrading their production technologies; assist in the formation of cooperatives of local salt producers/manufacturers; develop and implement comprehensive programs for the acquisition of design and manufacture of salt iodization machines and transfer of salt iodization technology; and identify areas that are suitable for use as salt farms to protect them from environmental risks to ensure the sustainability of iodized salt production.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Fisheries Drusila Bayate suggested that vital agencies be granted access to the integrated plan of the national government to effectively align with the operational requirements, like facilitation of production, identifying suitable locations for salt farms, and making infrastructure investments.

“The government has an integrated plan that will match the logistic need, plan of DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), the farm-to-market road, and tourism road. If there is any development plan from a local government na hihingi siya ng (that needs) appropriation, it should be within that big plan,” she said in another statement.

Escoto and Bayate joined DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban in a meeting with a consortium of private sector representatives at the DA Central Office in Quezon City on Friday.

Proposals presented focused on the establishment of a national network of advanced salt production plants through investment and policy interventions.

They also discussed the weakening condition of the Philippine salt industry due to various factors, among them climate change, land conversion, and economic globalization.

Panganiban advised BFAR and the private sector to collaborate to accelerate the modernization and industrialization of the Philippine salt industry.