On 11 March 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 11985 or the "Philippine Salt Industry Development Act" ("PSIDA Law") with the goal of reviving the country's salt industry. The PSIDA Law is in line with the policy of the State to preserve, protect, and rehabilitate the natural environment in the actualisation of developmental policies.
Congress proposed the law amid concerns that despite the Philippines being an archipelagic country, over 90% of the country's salt requirements are being imported mainly from Australia and China annually. This may be attributed to the passage of Republic Act No. 8172, or "Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide" ("ASIN Law"). Under the ASIN Law, all locally produced salt is required to be iodised. This adversely affected the local production of sea salt leading to increased reliance on imports.
With the enactment of the PSIDA Law, the effects in the implementation of ASIN Law will be addressed. The Government anticipates an increase in the production of salt, and the attainment of the goal to become salt-sufficient and be the net exporter of salt. Further, the revival of the salt industry would create opportunities for thousands of new jobs, particularly in the rural and coastal communities.
One of the pertinent provisions of the PSIDA Law is the mandate for the establishment of a Philippine Salt Industry Roadmap ("Salt Roadmap") to focus on the revitalisation and modernisation of the salt industry. The Salt Roadmap includes programmes, projects, and interventions for the development and management, research, processing, utilisation, business modernisation, and commercialisation of Philippine salt. Further, the PSIDA Law also provides for the creation of the Philippine Salt Industry Development Council to ensure the unified and integrated implementation of the Salt Roadmap and fast-track the modernisation and industrialisation of the Philippine salt industry.
