AGRICULTURE Secretary William D. Dar on Thursday said it is high time the country ratifies the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as the trade deal would improve the country’s agriculture sector, particularly its food trade with members of the agreement.
Dar said he “fully agrees” with Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez that the benefits of RCEP to the Philippines “far outweigh the cost of not joining.”
Addressing the Management Association of the Philippines’ General Membership meeting on Thursday, Dar said, “Our participation in this mega trade pact is imperative to our economic growth, which is set to boost the state of our trade and investments.”
He added, “RCEP is arguably our best response in recovering and reenergizing our economy especially after this pandemic.”
Dar noted that the Philippines secured “improved” tariff concessions under RCEP with China, Japan and South Korea for various agricultural products such as fruits, dairy and fisheries.
“We are positive that more partner-countries will come forward as free trade areas—a historic breakthrough in this plurilateral agreement,” he said.
Dar listed some of the notable benefits of RCEP to the domestic agriculture sector—wider area for cumulation of raw materials, enhanced rules on nontariff measures, strong customs cooperation, time-bound consultations to resolve issues on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, among others.
“As the Philippines pursues new trade agreements, it is crucial to shape our framework based on trade rules, economic integration, and industrial policies that will be beneficial to various sectors in our country, including agriculture,” he said.
“I have always said that agriculture is a sleeping giant and it’s time that we view this sector as such. It needs to conform to existing business realities. With RCEP, we are on our way towards transforming agriculture—making it prosperous and world class,” he added.
However, the agriculture chief said joining the RCEP comes with a caveat: We cannot ride the saddle without grooming the horse. Dar emphasized that the government must provide the necessary attention that agriculture needs, particularly in terms of funding.
“Our national leadership must pan the attention to agriculture sincerely and wilfully. It must become a budgetary priority, if not the topmost one,” he said.
“The budget of our high-value crops industry is only P1.5 billion. This is peanuts considering the potentials in coconut, bananas, pineapples, mangoes. I might add that some of our competitive export crops, such as coconut, are also needing massive scale rehabilitation and modernization,” he added.
Dar said the RCEP made the Philippines “conscious” of its “straggler status” as an agricultural country, “not only in the Asean region but in Asia.”
“Much younger countries have managed to pour substantial fiscal resources into their own agriculture sectors, even twice or thrice the budget for Philippine agriculture. As a result, they are set to overtake the Philippines in the exports game,” he said.
“We do not want to be left behind. We have to make agriculture a priority, and align our national priorities towards improving local productivity before we can truly become an export-oriented sector,” he added.
“So, as far as your question goes, ‘Should we get in now?’ My answer will be a resounding YES. Let’s create and boost agricultural trade,” Dar said.