Exporters urged to address trade concerns in food, liquor and tobacco

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine exporters especially of food, liquor and tobacco products are advised to address specific trade concerns (STCs) raised by the United States (US), European Union (EU) and Canada to continue serving key export markets.

In a report, Ambassador Esteban Conejos Jr., Philippine permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), noted the increasing number of STCs during a recent meeting of WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

“Although tariffs had significantly decreased, technical regulations and other non-tariff measures have grown in number, stifling market access for Philippine exports,” Conejos said.

He said the US, EU, Canada and Costa Rica during the meeting raised standards of food safety and food labelling requirements.

Likewise, Conejos said the US, EU, Canada and Argentina brought up labelling requirements and licensing regulations on alcoholic and liquor products.

Cuba and Malawi, on the other hand, raised requirements for packaging tobacco products, he added.

Conejos said other committee member countries had also a number of STCs in other areas like chemicals, tires and information technology/technology products as well as safety of products for children and adolescents.

The Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Geneva, Switzerland recommended that Promotion Posts consider subscribing to tariffs barrier to trade (TBT) notification alerts to receive a weekly consolidation of TBT submissions of WTO members.

“The alert is a useful source of information to monitor new technical regulations and standards that may affect exports in each jurisdiction,” it said.