PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said he hopes the country’s human rights compliance will not affect its status under the European Union (EU) Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+).
Marcos made the remark after the EU threatened to remove the country’s trade privilege in February for its alleged human rights and press freedom violations.
“I don’t think one thing should be related to the other but we’ll see,” the President said in an interview with reporters during his flight to Belgium for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-EU Commemorative Summit this week.
He said he will bring up the matter during his meetings with the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
The GSP+ allows the duty-free entry of over 6,000 products from the Philippines to the EU, on the condition that the government upholds 27 international conventions on human rights, labor, environment and climate action and good governance.
It took effect in 2014 and allowed the country to raise the value of exports to the EU from 5.3 billion euros that year to 7.77 billion euros in 2021.
In October this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the government is trying to negotiate for the extension of the trade privilege, which is set to expire in December 2023.
The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) earlier urged the EU to hold the country accountable for the death of over 50 local trade unionists.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) is set to send a high-level tripartite mission (HLTM) next month to look into reports of labor abuses.