THE Philippines is not ready to negotiate bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs) with prospective trading partners, such as the United States and Europe.

This, according to Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr., who said officials concerned should go back to the drawing boards and do extensive consultations with the private sector, civic groups, members of academe and Congress on what the Philippines really needs and what it can afford to bargain.

“We have to consolidate as a nation. Before we negotiate, we must consult first and get everybody onboard from the very beginning,” Cristobal said.

He also told reporters that before seeking new FTAs, the government must conduct extensive education and information campaign on how the business sector can use existing bilateral and regional trade agreements.

For instance, Cristobal said, Filipino exporters have not really taken advantage of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) to increase their presence in the Japanese market.

Based on a study, Cristobal said only 8 percent of the country’s total exports to Japan actually took advantage of the market-opening provisions of the Jpepa.

While the general strategy is to engage the country’s key trading partners in bilateral FTAs, negotiations would have to wait until internal issues have been resolved, he said.

Such issues include new targets and strategies that would be set in the new Export Development Program that is currently in the works. “We also need to study existing laws and provisions of the Constitution, otherwise we would not be able to deliver what we really want,” he said.