THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will carry out a series of measures to rescue exporters reeling from the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an e-mail to the BusinessMirror, the DTI’s Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) reported that it is crafting a comprehensive package of support for exporters that will be submitted to Congress in due time. The proposed assistance, which was based on consultations with industry players, seeks to provide relief at a time supply chains are disrupted by the health crisis.
However, the EMB did not disclose further details about the supposed package, or when it plans to present the proposal to lawmakers.
The agency is also calling on exporters to utilize the country’s preferential trade treatment from certain economic partners, such as the European Union. It pressed exporters to register in the EU’s REX System before the deadline on June 30 to avail themselves of preferential tariffs granted by the economic bloc under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus.
The EU REX is a system of self-certification that replaces the certificate of origin (CO) Form A with a statement of origin; thereby, simplifying the process of exporting to Europe by removing the requirement of getting CO Form A from the Customs for every shipping.
The EMB also assured exporters there will be no letup in efforts to secure for the Philippines free-trade agreements (FTA) with economic partners. The government, it said, continues “to participate actively in the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and is looking at a much improved bilateral FTA with South Korea.”
For the meantime that a lockdown is in place in many areas of the Philippines, the EMB said it is hosting webinars and information sessions intended to promote products and services, give market updates, generate reference materials and introduce the new normal.
Moreover, the agency tasked to promote the country’s export goods is doing online business matching and facilitation of trade leads for the time being that trade fairs here and abroad are canceled. It is assisting manufacturers in terms of movement of inputs and personnel under the quarantine.
The export sector is one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as the flow of supplies was disrupted by the lockdowns implemented in many nations.