ECOP attended the Philippine Export Competitiveness Program (PECP) Seminar about the Philippines-European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement (PH-EFTA FTA) of the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau on August 30, 2018 at the DTI International Building, Makati City.
The seminar focused on the PH-EFTA, the opportunities for exports in the EFTA states, rules of origin (ROO) for PH-EFTA and the REX System for Exporters of the European Union-Generalized Scheme of Preferences (EU-GSP).
Ms. Gold Grospe, Trade-Industry Development Specialist of DTI-EMB, gave an overview of the PH-EFTA FTA which the Philippines has entered into with the hopes of reducing, if not eliminating, tariffs. According to her, the country engaged the EFTA in order to expand and increase our share in the trade block. In addition, the agreement has allowed for a duty-free market access for all industrial and fish products.
Other speakers included the charges d’affaires of the Swiss Embassy, Mr. Mathias Domenig, and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Ms. Larissa Kosanovic, who both tackled the relationship of Switzerland and Norway with the Philippines in terms of EFTA. They explained that the EFTA-PH brought about competition, significant growth, boost in investments, and comparative advantage to each country.
Represented by Ms. Gina German, the Bureau of Customs also provided the participants with information about ROO and the REX System. She emphasized that exporters must always know the originating status of their goods. The ROO is made up of laws, regulations, and administrative determinations to ascertain the country origin of the goods and their economic content and nationality.
DTI-EMB also presented Tradeline Philippines, their online facility for knowledge-sharing and digital marketing of the Philippine products and services. Through this portal, Philippine exporters can sign up and be able to access a repository of trade-related information, trade statistics, as well as engage in business matching.
The PECP Seminars are conducted every last Thursday of the month.
DTI-EMB has expressed its support to an ECOP-ILO Project on “Promoting a Culture of Compliance to Labour Standards Through Social Dialogue Among MSMEs” which will assess the level of awareness and understanding on the various standards required under EU-GSP+ and develop a self-assessment tool to assist entrepreneurs in ascertaining their level of preparedness to the EU market based on GSP+.
