April 19, 2023, Quezon City – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and shecco, gathered together to hold the 4th Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting of the “Global Partnership for Improving the Food Cold Chain of the Philippines (FCC) Project”.
The PSC members discussed the key accomplishments of the FCC Project. These include the partnership with the Energy Utilization Management Bureau of the Department of Energy (EUMB-DOE) and Philippine Bureau of Standard of the Department of Trade and Industry (PBS-DTI) that resulted to the updated PNS IEC 60335-2-89 and the draft Department Circular on the Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) for Cold Storage Warehouses. The partnership with the National Cold Chain Committee (NC3) headed by Board of Investment (BOI) also lead to the Data collection for DeliverE 2.0, a supply chain management tool. Another accomplishment highlighted in the meeting was the establishment of the Cold Chain Innovation Hub (CCI-Hub) at TESDA Taguig, in which partnership with the world’s most innovative and sustainable technology providers resulted to contributions such as R290 and CO2 commercial and industrial refrigeration systems that are showcased at the CCI-Hub, ready to make Philippines a pioneer in sustainable cold chain development in the region.
“The low GWP energy efficient equipment at the CCI-Hub are being used in our various technical sessions to the cold chain stakeholders and in the training of TESDA trainers (TOT) from different regional training centers. Together with these trainings, we are developing formal courses and certifications for low GWP refrigerants systems in TESDA. This will complement the new technologies being introduced in the Philippines through the CCI-Hub” said Mr. Edward Dela Rosa, TESDA representative.
The FCC Project will be finishing this December 2023, thus the workplans of the partner agencies were thoroughly deliberated by the PSC. The Business case demonstration projects and the financing scheme to develop bankable investment cold chain projects are the major outputs that the FCC Project will be accomplishing before the Project ends.
“The FCC Project is a very good project and the DENR will always support not only UNIDO but as well as the other government partners in their activities to achieve the overall goal of the Project” said DENR Assistant Secretary Gilbert Gonzales, PSC Chairperson on behalf of DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones.
The goal of the “Global Partnership for Improving the Food Cold Chain in the Philippines” project is to identify, develop and stimulate the development of low-carbon, energy efficient refrigeration innovation technologies and business practices in the Philippines for use throughout the food cold chain whilst increasing food safety and security.
National Policy and Regulations Coordinator
Global Partnership for Food Cold Chain in the Philippines Project