The Philippines is optimistic the European Union will soon engage Manila in negotiations for the anticipated continuation of the EU Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade program for the Philippines.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the negotiations were promising after meeting EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom during the recent World Trade Organization meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“The dialogue was a bit on the general side. The last time we spoke, we agreed to continue our engagement,” he said.
The Philippine delegation said the EU now had less concerns unlike before, raising the likelihood of a “better probability” for the continuation of the program.
The EU has been raising many concerns, the issue of human rights situation in the country.
“Part of the monitoring they conduct include labor, compliance… and many aspects per issue that are also reviewed. Even on the aid, they are working it out on how our participation will be acceptable. Their tone is ‘how can we help’,” Lopez said.
The EU GSP+ is a preferential trade scheme that will be in force until 2023 but will subject all nin beneficiary countries, including the Philippines, to annual review.
The Philippines GSP+ utilization rate increased from 71 percent in 2016 to over 91 percent in the first half of 2017. Out of €6.6 billion worth of Philippine exports to the EU, €1.7 billion were GSP+ shipments.
The Trade Department is looking forward to having a free trade agreement with the EU before the GSP+ expires in 2023.
“We’re hoping that the preferential scheme will be a suitable platform for the Philippines to graduate to FTA with the EU,” Lopez said.
The GSP+ program allows beneficiary countries to export specific products to the EU duty free. GSP+ gives zero tariff to 6,247 product lines entering the EU market.
EU is the fourth largest export market of the Philippines with over €6 billion worth of exports and 36 percent growth in the first two quarters of 2017.