The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) brushed aside as baseless fears of business groups the Philippines will lose export markets if it does not join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
FFF said the business groups themselves have acknowledged the need for safety nets for vulnerable sectors and have urged government to assist those that may be adversely affected.
Raul Montemayor, FFF national manager, in a statement said Senate, whose concurrence for the ratification by the Philippines of RCEP is pending, must ensure such safety measures are placed first and not “put the cart ahead of the horse.”
RCEP will not make inputs cheaper nor more accessible as the deal is only a consolidation and not a replacement of several free trade agreements.
“We will not lose any competitive advantage by being outside RCEP. For example, the tariffs on our banana exports to China under the Asean-China free trade agreement will be the same as China’s tariffs under RCEP. Our garment exporters can continue selling their products to Japan and South Korea at the same tariffs as their competitors from RCEP member-countries. This is true for almost all other goods,” Montemayor said.
Montemayor said RCEP has little advantage to the garments industry as the sector sends 75 percent of its products to non-RCEP countries
The FFF added Philippine membership in RCEP by itself will not convince foreign investors to put up business locally since they can enjoy the same preferential tariffs in other RCEP countries.
“Investors will still shy away from us unless we fix our power, communications, traffic, and other problems,” Montemayor said.
The FFF added that joining RCEP now is ill-advised as many sectors particularly in agriculture, are unprepared for open competition.
