Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific face similar challenges in seizing the opportunities offered by VSS to meet the growing demand for sustainably produced goods.
UNCTAD has worked with three participating countries in the region to help them build their capacity to adopt VSS for their production of green exports.
Philippines - Virgin Coconut Oil
Using the VSS Assessment Toolkit designed under this project, UNCTAD conducted a reality-check to develop policy options for the Philippine virgin coconut oil (VCO) value chain to effectively respond to the growing demand for the adoption of sustainable practices, which contributes to improving market opportunities and country’s green exports.
Based on the conclusions of this study, UNCTAD supported the establishment of a “Technical Working Group (TWG) on Organic Certification of Virgin Coconut Oil” in the Philippines, which held its first meeting in November 2019.
Building upon UNCTAD’s findings and the conclusions of its first meeting, the TWG is due to adopt a VCO National Action Plan in support of the Philippines Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2018-2022 at its second meeting in 2020.
This country case study was conducted in partnership with the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).
Download: Assessment of Organic Certification in the Coconut Oil Value Chain in the Philippines (Fact Sheet)
