The president of the Philippine Association of Salt Industry Networks (PhilASIN) yesterday warned the country will have to import 96 percent of its salt requirements by 2030 despite having 36,000 kilometers of shoreline if Congress will not pass the proposed comprehensive salt industry reform program bill to ensure self-sufficiency.
Gerard Khonghun told the House committee on agriculture and food the Philippines will have to rely on imported salt “if we do nothing or if we don’t pass this measure, if the country does not gather around and have a strategy.”
The PhilASIN president noted he expects annual salt importation by 2030 is about 1.3 million tons worth P6 billion.
Konghun issued the warning during the committee’s hearing on Rep. Ron Salo’s (PL, Kabayan) House Bill No. 1976 which proposes the adoption of a comprehensive salt industry reform program.
HB No. 1976 tasks the government to provide technical, physical, and financial assistance to salt farmers, including artisanal salt farmers, to develop and improve their craft. It also mandates the government to invest in the identification and construction of salt farms for lease to qualified salt farmers, whether individuals, cooperatives, or corporations.
The bill crates an “Administration for Salt Industry Development, Revitalization and Optimization” which will be tasked to implement the law.
The panel created a technical working group (TWG) headed by Salo to thresh out the remaining concerns of various stakeholders and agencies, including the possible amendments to R.A. No. 8172, otherwise known as the Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN Law).
Khonghun said salt self-sufficiency will contribute to the country’s agro-industrial development, which makes it a “national food security issue.” He also warned that without salt, the country will be “vulnerable to a food supply chain crisis.”
While the country presently consumes around 600,000 to 680,000 tons of salt annually, he said the passage of Republic Act No. 11504 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Fund Act would create an additional demand of 300,000 tons since farmers use salt as fertilizers in planting 300 million coconut trees.
“So the annual importation, looking at a two-year average, is about 628,000 worth $54 million in foreign exchange. That is the 92 percent of imported salt today. So looking at the long-term 10-year trend, we can see importation has been steadily increasing,” Konghun said.
Khonghun blamed the decline in hectarage of land used in salt farming, saying salt farms in Caviteand in Bulacan in the 1980s have since been transformed into urban and residential areas.
Salo said the country’s 36,000 kilometers of shoreline — the fifth longest shoreline in the world — can be used for massive salt production.
Salo noted a number of factors affected the country’s salt self-sufficiency:an outdated policy regime, low quality control and product improvement, limited development of new production areas, unattractive business environment for small enterprises and lack of new investments.
