The Senate on Monday accredited on third and remaining studying the proposed Philippine Salt Industry Development Act—a precedence measure of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
Senate Bill 2243 garnered 22 affirmative votes, zero unfavourable votes, and 0 abstention.
The invoice seeks to formulate and set up a Philippine Salt Industry Development Roadmap which shall embrace applications, tasks, and interventions for the event and administration, analysis, processing, utilization, business modernization, and commercialization of locally-produced salt.
A Salt Council which might be composed of the Agriculture secretary as chairperson; Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director as vice chairperson; Trade secretary, Environment and Natural Resources secretary, Science and Technology secretary, Health secretary, Tourism secretary, and Public Works secretary as members, shall be created.
Apart from authorities officers, the council may even embrace the chairperson of the Cooperative Development Authority, chief govt officer of the Land Bank of the Philippines, one consultant every from the League of Provinces, League of Cites, and League of Municipalities, one consultant from the personal sector engaged in salt manufacturing business, and three representatives from salt farmer cooperative—two representing Luzon and one representing Visayas and Mindanao.
The council might be tasked to formulate a five-year Salt Roadmap which can include the short-term, medium-term, and long-term growth plan for the trade and might be up to date yearly or earlier; determine particular and precedence applications and tasks; present growth funds and technical help to salt farmers and the trade; determine sources of financing and facilitate credit score home windows with authorities banks and the Agricultural Credit Police to develop the salt trade growth; and enhance the manufacturing of native salt by growing land space dedicated to salt and bettering farm productiveness, amongst others.
The Department of Agriculture, via the BFAR, might be mandated to guide the implementation of the event plan.
A Program Management Office might be created beneath the Office of the BFAR director to supervise the general implementation of the event plan and the monitoring of its execution by the implementing businesses and/or companions.
Further, the PMO will carry out secretariat features reminiscent of to coordinate and handle the common conferences of the Salt Council, put together and consolidate reviews, monitor the implementation of coverage selections, and liaise with all of the member departments and related businesses of the federal government.
SB 2243 may even render salt iodization for food-grade salt non-compulsory within the nation, basically modifying Sections 3 and 5 of Republic 8172 or the Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN).
With this, the Department of Health might be tasked to assessment and proceed the implementation of the prevailing nationwide iodization program and discover and institutionalize applications to proceed salt iodization within the nation.
The proposed regulation may even impose a 9% tariff on all imported salt, topic to current free commerce agreements.
The salt tariff collections will go to the proposed Salt Industry Development and Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
Under the invoice, the President, if Congress isn’t in session, might be empowered to revise or alter current charges of customs duties on salt imports consonant with the nation’s worldwide agreements, together with any crucial change in classification relevant to their importation however the adjustment shall be time-bound. The adjustment issued by the President shall be efficient 15 days after publication.
The President can also be empowered for a restricted interval and/or a specified quantity, to permit importation of salt at a decrease utilized tariff price within the occasion of any imminent or forecasted scarcity or such different state of affairs requiring authorities intervention. This energy will be exercised even when Congress is in session and it’ll take impact instantly.
The energy delegated to the President could also be withdrawn or terminated by Congress via a joint decision.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
