Labor, environment, good governance, and government procurement have emerged as new elements in the planned free trade agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and the European Union (EU).
Allan Gepty, undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) who led the
first round of negotiations in Brussels, Belgium on October 14 to 18 said these elements being considered are not usually present under existing FTAs of the Philippines.
But he assured issues on labor, environment, climate change, and good governance are also part of the conditions set under the current EU Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Plus.
“Our policy direction is aligned with these elements,” Gepty said.
To qualify for GSP+, a country must ratify 27 international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and good governance.
Gepty said the Philippines made a big push on services particularly in financial, information technology-business process management, accounting, auditing and bookeeping, engineering services, among others.
“We want to establish an enabling environment for our service suppliers especially professionals so they can be given more opportunities in Europe,” he said.
According to Gepty, business organizations in Europe namely Business Europe and EU-Asean Business Council, have expressed strong support for the FTA negotiation.
“This is a good indication especially as we move for an optimum engagement with the EU not only in trade in goods but also in services and investments,” he said.
Gepty described the negotiations as generally “very positive and constructive.” “We look forward to conclude the negotiations the soonest possible time,” Gepty said, adding “we need to sustain the positive momentum of our international trade relations.”
The next round of negotiations is in February but the officials have agreed to hold intersessional meetings virtually in between.
Negotiations on the FTA resumed last week after being stalled for seven years.
Negotiations were launched in December 2015. The second round of negotiations took place in February 2017.
The EU and the Philippines announced the resumption of negotiations in March.
