The European Union (EU) is urging the Philippines to maximize the use of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus, as only 25 percent of the country’s exports to the economic bloc is benefiting from the trade privilege.
EU Delegation to the Philippines Charge d’ Affaires Thomas Wiersing said the government should find a way to boost the country’s utilization of its GSP Plus status with the EU. Citing official estimates, he said only a quarter of Philippine exports to Europe make use of the GSP Plus—this, in spite of the trade preference covering 6,274 local products.
According to Wiersing, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) have stressed the importance of the trade privilege to the improvement of Philippine shipment, stressing the necessity for the country to exploit it and enlarge its exports to the EU.
“While GSP Plus utilization rate for 2019 is yet to come out, it is estimated that around 25 percent of total Filipino exports to the EU, approximately 2 billion euros, benefit from the EU GSP Plus Preference, particularly in agricultural and food products,” Wiersing said in a news briefing on Thursday.
“DTI and Neda have frequently underscored the economic benefits of the EU GSP Plus to the Filipino exports. It is therefore hoped that the GSP Plus utilization rate for Philippines further increases in 2020,” he added.
The EU Delegation official also said Philippine exporters should take advantage of the newly implemented registered exporter system of the economic bloc. Under the REX system, traders can now self certify themselves on the origin of their goods, streamlining the procedure on export registration.
“It is also hoped that [with] the implementation of the REX System of self certification by the EU beginning January 2020, Filipino exporters will have faster processing time for their documentary requirements specific to GSP Plus beneficiaries,” Wiersing said.
He bared the report on the compliance and utilization of GSP Plus beneficiaries will come out soon, under which the country’s adherence to international core conventions is assessed.
“The biannual GSP Plus report by the EU Commission is expected to be published soon. This report will come out covering the 2018 and 2019 progress of the Philippines and other countries in the implementation of 27 international conventions relating to human rights, labor rights, environment and good governance,” Wiersing said.
Citing Eurostat data, Wiersing disclosed Philippine shipments to the EU between January and November 2019 rose 2 percent to €7.5 billion, while imports from the economic bloc expanded 8 percent to €7.5 billion. As such, merchandise trade between the two economies jumped 5 percent to €15.1 billion, from €14.4 billion during the same period in 2018.
“Overall, EU-Filipino trade is relatively smooth, but there are lingering nontariff and market access issues, especially in the agriculture and food sectors. There are special concern for the certification of meat and vegetable exporters, but also for the ban on export of pig meat from EU countries partially affected by the African swine fever,” the EU executive said.
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