07 April 2016 – Senior agriculture officials from the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) and Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture met in Moscow on April 05 to discuss concrete measures to strengthen the two countries cooperation on food security and agricultural trade.

The Philippine delegation headed by DA Undersecretary Dennis Guerrero informed their counterparts that the country is prepared to supply Russia’s requirements for seafood and fisheries products as well as various tropical fruits. Undersecretary Guerrero also informed his Russian colleagues that the Philippines is ready to consider Russia’s request to export certain meat products to the country.

Russian Deputy Minister for Agriculture Sergey Levin shared that Russia is pleased to continue exporting various grains to the Philippines and eventually venture into other foodstuff. He also encouraged the Philippines to export agricultural products to Russia.

Russia also responded positively to the Philippines’ inquiries on possible technical cooperation and information exchange on regulation of bio-control agents.

The two sides agreed to expand cooperation and pursue continuing dialogue under the umbrella of the Joint Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation which was established through an agreement signed by President Benigno Aquino III and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during the APEC Summit in Manila in November of last year. END