Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur appealed to his fellow legislators to support a bill that promotes good health among the people.
Villafuerte made the call in the wake of the approval by the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means of the bill that aims to eliminate transfat from the food chain, before Congress took a three-month election break.
Villafuerte authored the bill that seeks to eliminate industrially-produced transfatty acids (TFAs) from the country’s food supply to promote healthy living among Filipinos and protect them from serious ailments.
The panel specifically approved the tax provisions of the bill and similar other measures that also aim to strictly regulate food products with TFAs.
Approved by the House ways and means committee was Section 25 of Villafuerte’s bill, which provides that the importation of laboratory equipment for testing TFA would be exempt from the payment of customs duties and taxes.
The panel also approved HB 8093’s Section 30, which mandates, among others, that within two years from the effectivity of the proposal, food manufacturers would comply with the additional requirements for certificate of product registration (CPR) as determined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
