indonesias food safety measures affecting horticultural products and animal products in october 2016 the philippines expressed its concern regarding indonesias food safety measures affecting horticultural products and animal products and in particular with ministry of agriculture moa regulations no.88 2011 no. 42 2012 and no. 04 2015. the philippines regretted that no progress had been made through all bilateral avenues tried so far. the philippines considered the regulations to be in violation among others of articles 2.2 4 5.4 and 5.6 of the sps agreement as well as the national treatment principle under article iii of gatt 1994. the measures had no scientific justification and were more trade restrictive than necessary to achieve indonesias appropriate level of protection alop . exports of horticultural exports had been growing until 2011 when the measures were first imposed without posing any serious health or safety risks. furthermore indonesias closure of its main entry port in jakarta in 2012 heavily impacted on philippine exports of bananas and shallots. indonesia had unduly delayed the processing of the philippines applications for recognition of its food safety control system for horticultural products laboratory accreditation and accreditation for animal products despite follow-u in writing and bilateral discussions on numerous occasions. indonesias latest measures under moa regulation no. 04 2015 further overshadowed efforts to recognise the philippines food safety control system. the philippines recognized that some measures currently being reviewed by dispute settlement panels might not be covered by the sps agreement but noted that the combined effect of both sps and non-sps measures made indonesias system more potently trade restrictive. the philippines expressed its appreciation for indonesias availability on the margins of the current committee meeting and remained committed to continue bilateral discussions to resolve this issue. indonesia indicated that some regulations at issue were no longer in force. a revision of moa regulation no. 88 2011 had been notified g sps n idn 94 and implemented in february 2016. the regulation set out food safety control systems recognition and laboratory registration requirements to export fresh foods of plant origin to indonesia. since 2012 the philippines had submitted applications for food safety recognition systems for bananas shallots and pineapples and had applied for registration of its food safety testing laboratory in june 2016. however indonesia was still waiting for additional data necessary for conducting the risk assessment. the requirements applied to all wto members and so far 26 countries had been granted access to the indonesian market. indonesia thanked the philippines for the explanations received during their bilateral talks in the margins of the committee and expressed its willingness to continue bilateral discussions towards finding a solution. in march 2019 the philippines reiterated its concern on indonesias sps-related requirements on horticultural products which had led to the disruption of philippine exports since 2013 and regretted the lack of progress on this issue which had been previously raised in 2016. the philippines updated the committee on the minister of agriculture decree no. 2315 issued by indonesia in late 2018 which only recognized a limited number of testing laboratories for horticultural products. further import requirements had followed including mrls for bananas and shallots and a new requirement that fresh bananas had to be sourced from a recognized pest-free area in the philippines. although indonesia had identified and recognized pest-free production areas and accredited laboratories in the philippines there was a lack of clarity on the resumption of imports of bananas pineapples and shallots. while appreciating progress made the philippines remained concerned about indonesias measures and referred to undue delays in their applications unpredictable timeframes a