Nestlé backs special duties to aid local coffee industry

Nestlé Philippines Inc. supports the use of collected special duties on imported coffee products by the government to develop the country's domestic coffee industry, a ranking executive said.

- JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

Jose Uy III, senior vice president and head of corporate affairs at Nestlé Philippines, said the implementation of the Competitiveness Enhancement Measures Fund (CEMF) by the government would ensure that local coffee farmers would get "valuable" inputs.

The CEMF is a fund created under Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguards Measures Act of 2000 to improve the competitiveness of domestic industries affected by increased imports.

The fund consists of the 50 percent of the total collected fees, charges and safeguard duties by the government from imported products.

It was created 24 years ago but the Departments of Agriculture and Trade and Industry only issued the joint implementing rules and regulations last year.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued the implementing guidelines of the CEMF last February, paving the way for the use of the fund in the agriculture sector.

Government budget documents showed that the CEMF reached P3.343 billion at the end of 2022.