The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), will be hosting the 25th Plenary Meeting of the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee (ISO/TC) on Packaging and Its Related Events in Makati City on September 5-8, 2023.
The Philippines is a participating member to ISO/TC 122 which allows the country to participate in the standardization work of the ISO on packaging through participating in physical or online meetings and providing position or comments to circulated documents via voting.
This is with the ultimate goal of putting forward the concerns/interests of the Philippine stakeholders from various industries and contribute to the fulfillment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on good health and well-being; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible and sustainable consumption; climate action; and life below water.
“The standardization of packaging here in the Philippines will also facilitate the government’s actions in the (a) broadening of waste minimization initiatives such as what we do in our Extended Producer Responsibility program for plastic packaging, (b) improvement of nutrition across all ages by development of packaging technologies that may aid in prolonging the shelf-life of food products, and (c) expansion of access to markets by developing domestic industries to use local materials for packaging — all of which significantly contribute to the desired development outcomes of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028”, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said.
The meeting will be participated by the officials and secretariat of the ISO/TC 122, experts from twenty-nine (29) Participating Member Countries of the technical committee, experts from the BPS Technical Committee on Packaging and Packaging Materials (BPS/TC 40), Sub-committee on Glass Containers (BPS/TC 40/SC 1), and Sub-committee on Paper Packaging (BPS/TC 40/SC 2), and representatives from the BPS.
“The Packaging Institute of the Philippines (PIP) welcomes the Philippines’ hosting of the ISO/TC 122 as this will be an opportunity for the packaging industry to witness and participate in the deliberation of ISO international standards development process. The event will also allow the industry to network with international experts in the field of the packaging and an occasion to showcase the Philippine packaging industry’s efforts to ensure materials produced are at par with international standards not only to cater to customer but to comply with regulatory requirements as required. We offer our 100% support to this effort to empower the Philippine industry to influence the development of international standards on packaging,” PIP President PhDM Virginia M. Robledo said.
The activity is aligned with the government’s goal of increasing competitiveness, innovativeness, and resilience of industry and service. This can be achieved through standardization that provides acceptable evidence that products and services meet the defined government and market standards.
