Japan bucks unnecessary testing of food exports
www.bworldonline.com
JAPAN HAS CALLED on trade partners including the Philippines to abide by trade rules amid fears of radiation-contaminated shipments from the disaster-hit nation.An official of the Japanese embassy, in particular, expressed concern over a testing requirement recently imposed by Manila on fish and fishery products imported from Japan. Shinsuke Shimizu, head of chancery at the embassy, told BusinessWorld last Friday that instead of requiring tests which are "not necessary and impossible", a fair measure would be to ask for a certificate of origin. "If they keep on doing this, imports have to be stopped." Mr. Shimizu said. Japan continues to struggle to stabilize the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, which has released unknown amounts of radioactive material into the environment. One particular concern is the leak of highly radioactive water into the sea near the plant. Last month, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) required samples of fish and fishery products not certified by Japanese authorities as radiation-free to undergo tests at the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI). "[A] better [measure is a] certificate of origin instead of radiation test," Mr. Shimizu said, noting that this approach was requested by the European Union. A government agency, however, insisted that the test was necessary. "The place of storage in Japan prior to shipment mentioned as origin may be different from fishing grounds. It’s safer to have a PNRI test," BFAR director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. said in a text message last Friday. "In the absence of a certification from Japanese authorities that it (a shipment) is radioactive free then samples must be sent to the PNRI for testing and upon negative findings [the goods] can be released," he added. A World Trade Organization (WTO) spokesman said international agreements allow governments to restrict imports deemed unsafe, and that Japan had also asked that the disaster’s dangers not be overblown. "Here at the WTO, Japanese officials have urged their trading partners... not to exaggerate the dangers and thus use the catastrophe in Japan as a pretext for employing protectionist measures," said Keith Rockwell, director of the WTO Information and External Relations Division. "It is true that in the past, governments have employed measures to restrict imports on safety grounds and later had those measures overturned by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body...," he added. Despite the trade concerns, Mr. Shimizu said Japan would not seek concessions when the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement is reviewed later this year. -- A. M. G. Roa
Intramuros redevelopment eyed for PPP
Project to showcase country’s cultural heritage By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Tourism (DoT) plans to offer for potential public-private partnership (PPP) a master-planned redevelopment of the five-hectare “Walled City” of Intramuros, the oldest district in the Philippine capital of Manila built during the Spanish colonial period. In a roundtable forum with the Inquirer business staff, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said Intramuros would be spruced up to better showcase the country’s cultural heritage. The DoT also plans to attract retail businesses over the next two years and to redevelop some areas into a mixed-use commercial and residential hub over a five-year period using financial muscle from the private sector. Lim said a feasibility study would be undertaken soon and the government might bid out the Intramuros redevelopment project under the PPP framework by early 2012. The DOT is making a timely move to draw in a private sector participation for this major project given the huge interest among the country’s biggest property developers like Ayala Land, SM of taipan Henry Sy, JG Summit of the Gokongweis and Alliance Global of tycoon Andrew Tan on tourism-oriented real estate. As part of the redevelopment, Lim said Intramuros’ Maestranza Wall, used as a shipping warehouse during the Spanish occupation, would be fixed using a P250-million grant from Japan’s official development assistance arm Japan International Cooperation Agency. This stretch of wall lies near the mouth of Pasig river on its southern bank. “We will make it look like what they have as store fronts in Clarke Quay,” Lim said, referring to a historic riverside quay in Singapore that now houses a bustling pedestrian retail row. The redevelopment shall also include the rebuilding of the San Ignacio Church, which is currently in ruins. “It will become the Museum of Intramuros, where we will put the Ecclessiastical art collected by Jimmy Laya (governor of the Marcos-era central bank). This refers to art produced during an era in the Middle Ages in which the influence of the Church was practically paramount.
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