DTI officials to prod EU on free trade pact

Department of Trade and Industry officials will likely confer the European Union early March on moving forward the ongoing process to forge a free trade agreement that will give the Philippines better access to the world’s single largest market.

“I will be going to a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the first week of March and there will be representatives of the EU there,” Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo told news media during the 2nd Arangkada Philippines Forum in Makati Tuesday.

“We could talk about it (FTA with EU) and we have already agreed that there are some areas that can work out,” Domingo added.

The Philippines and EU already have a partnership agreement they entered into on July 11 last year. The partnership agreement is a phase preparatory to the FTA.

Domingo did not specify during his huddle with reporters which areas will be discussed for coverage of the FTA, but in past months trade officials and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry identified clusters of merchandise goods they hope will be included in the FTA.

Trade officials had said the Philippines may pursue increased market access for resource-based goods (carrageenan, cutflowers, forest products and tobacco), food and food preparations, consumer manufactures (i.e. fashion accessories, footwear, and furniture), and industrial manufactures (electronics, chemicals, and construction products).

The PCCI among the ‘winners’ ready to seize EU market opportunities are vegetable oils and fats, textiles/apparel, motor vehicles parts, while ‘potential winners’ are financial services and insurance, chemical products, communication, construction, paper and publishing, energy and water supply, leather, machiner and electrical appliances.

Source: ELR, GMA News, 27 February 2013