Exporters urged to use free trade agreements

MANILA, Philippines – Exporters should create competitive products and utilize the free trade agreements (FTA) the country enters into in order to penetrate non-traditional markets outside the United States, a top trade official said. 

Special Envoy for International Trade Ambassador Donald Dee said it is imperative for industry players to identify other opportunities that they can take advantage of in terms of market access to prepare themselves for the expected recovery of the global economy.

“A lot of countries are now more accessible to us due to the concessions that we got from our agreements with Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

Dee cited the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Japan FTA which offer enormous trade opportunities especially for exporters of agriculture products. 

Aside from goods export, JPEPA has allowed the country to focus on services as its core export product, he added.

The official said Philippine businesses of some agriculture products likewise could benefit from the ASEAN-China FTA.

 Moreover, Dee said the recently signed FTA between ASEAN members and Australia and New Zealand could pave the way for the exporters to enter these “untapped markets”. 

Under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA), the two countries will remove taxes on all tariff lines by 2020. By next year, Australia will eliminate tariffs on 96.4 percent of its tariff lines, while New Zealand will remove 84.7 percent of its lines.

“The AANZFTA already provides the groundwork for us to enter those two markets, given the preferential treatment that we have been accorded them,” he said. “It is now up to us to study and identify products that we should push for in these markets.”

Dee said the signing of another FTA between ASEAN countries and the European Union could also provide an added boost to the sector. Its negotiations, however, are currently at a standstill.

To effectively capture these potential markets, he encouraged businesses to direct their resources to products where they have advantage, such as those that highlight “product design, craftsmanship and make use of indigenous materials.” – Philexport News and Features