The Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Import Services strengthens its capacity to monitor the surge in the volume of imported locally-produced industrial commodities through the Import Surge Monitoring System.
It is seen as a supplement to implementation of the country’s free trade agreements particularly the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
The BIS launched the Import Surge Monitoring System on May 31, 2023 to proactively track the volume levels of locally produced imported goods. The business intelligence tool serves as a mechanism to ensure the level playing field for the domestic industry when confronted with an unwarranted influx of imported goods.
The system can easily detect a surge in importation of a particular commodity through the automation of various steps in the execution of the function.
It aims to assist the local industry and the BIS to monitor imports of products, particularly industrial products that are sensitive and conceivably the subject of a trade remedy investigation.
It boosts the utilization of trade remedy measures as domestic industries will be consulted to validate whether they are being harmed or adversely affected by the surge or increased imports.
The sharp and significant increase in importation is a key element to initiate an investigation on a possible trade remedy case. The DTI through the BIS is mandated to conduct initiation and preliminary investigation on safeguard measures, anti-dumping and countervailing cases filed by the domestic industry.
Considering the country’s trade liberalization commitments in various international fora, the system can assist in monitoring the levels of Philippine imports as basis in trade negotiations pursued.
Data generated can be used by businesses as a guide in formulating their business strategies, plans, forecasting and projecting market demand, according to the DTI.