DTI pushes use of GSP+, FTA talks with EU

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is pushing for greater use of the European Union’s trade preferences program, as well as for continued talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the bloc for stronger trade and investment ties.

The DTI said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez met with his new counterpart, European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis, last week to discuss the future of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) and a possible FTA between the parties.

“We hope to push for deeper trade and investment engagements by maximizing the benefits from the GSP+  and through a possible FTA with them,” Lopez said.

The Philippines, as a beneficiary of the EU GSP+, can export 6,274 products to the EU at zero duty.

At present, the Philippines is the only country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that benefits from the EU GSP+.

This trade benefit is important, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as small communities given the economic challenges brought by the pandemic.

As keeping the EU GSP+ beneficiary status is contingent on the implementation of 27 international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection and good governance, the DTI said the Philippines is ready to engage the EU in a constructive dialogue for the conduct of the technical mission early next year.

Under the Philippines-EU partnership cooperation agreement, the two countries would convene the sub-committee of trade, investment and economic cooperation next year and the negotiations for the FTA are expected to be discussed during that meeting, along with trade and investment cooperation, Industry 4.0, support for MSMEs, and intellectual property rights enforcement and protection.

The Philippines and the EU have conducted two rounds of negotiations for the FTA, with the first held in May 2016 in Brussels, Belgium and the latest in February 2017 in Cebu.

Businesses want the talks for the bilateral trade deal to proceed as a survey conducted by the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry this year showed 83 percent of German businesses support the continuation of the FTA negotiations.

“There is a strong call from the business sector to continue the Philippines-EU FTA negotiations. There is a big opportunity for EU businesses to expand here in the Philippines – not just to access our huge domestic market, but equally important is to use the Philippines as a base for export manufacturing to access the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) market,” Lopez said.

Signed by the ASEAN and trade partners Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand last month, the RCEP will create the world’s largest trade bloc and enable faster growth in the region which now accounts for 28.2 percent of global gross domestic product amounting to $23.9 trillion and 27.8 percent of the world’s trade valued at $10.5 trillion.

With the signing of the RCEP agreement, Lopez said the Philippines is now setting its sights on the comprehensive and the progressive agreement for trans-Pacific Partnership, the FTA between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.