The United States remains concerned about intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in the Philippines even after 11 years of the Southeast Asian country having been taken off the US priority watchlist, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said.
The USTR Representative was referring to the Special 301 Report, which is an annual review of the global state of IPR protection and enforcement, and identifies countries that fall short of adequate and effective protection and enforcement measures, as well as unresolved issues when it comes to IPR matters.
Countries on the watchlist are subject to monitoring and possible trade sanctions.
In a separate 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report posted on the USTR website on March 31 (April 1, 2025 in Manila), the USTR also said corruption is a pervasive and longstanding problem in the Philippines.
The NTE is usually submitted to the President of the United States and the US Congress on March 31 each year. It identifies foreign trade barriers such as tariffs and faced by US exporters and USTR’s efforts to reduce those barriers.
The report has identified tariffs, as well as sanitary and phytosanitary standards in the Philippines that affect agriculture trade with the US.
While the Philippines has made progress in IPR, the USTR said the country has limited enforcement activities that compel stakeholders to continue reporting issues regarding online piracy and sales of counterfeit goods, including apparel, shoes, watches, jewelry, perfume and electronics.
The NTE Report said concerns about counterfeiting and piracy have also compelled the USTR to keep Manila’s Greenhills Shopping Center on the 2024 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy List.
The concerns raised by the stakeholders include the slow prosecution and conviction of cases.
The USTR, however, cited the Philippine government’s plan to amend the IP Code to incorporate new technological changes and improve IPR protection and enforcement.
The NTE report further said the US will continue to be engaged in the implementation of regulations related to geographical indications (GIs) that entered into force in November 2022, including their potential impact on market access for US products.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines defines GIs as any indication which identifies a good as originating in a territory, region or locality, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and human factors.
The NTE Report was released ahead of the scheduled issue this month of the 2025 Special 301 WatchList.
It said that the national and local government agencies in the Philippines, particularly the Bureau of Customs (BOC), are beset with various corruption issues.
“Both foreign and domestic investors have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency in judicial and regulatory processes,” the report said.
The BOC launched a modernization program in 2021 to address issues regarding Customs inefficiencies and corruption, but the US has said delays, irregularities in valuation, and inconsistent fee assessments are among the persistent challenges hounding the Philippines.
The USTR report also said some stakeholders have raised concerns about some of the new Customs regulations such as higher processing fees, pre-border technical verification and cross-border electronic invoicing.
Apart from increased costs, the report said potential delays, corruption risks, and conflicts with international standards, particularly regarding tariff classification and customs valuation are also among the persistent concerns when it comes to the Philippines.
The NTE Report said US agricultural exports are significantly inhibited by the high in-quota tariffs on agricultural products under the Philippine tariff-rate quota (TRQ) program, known as the minimum access volume (MAV) system.
Under the MAV system, the Philippines has scheduled TRQs on select agricultural products, including sugar, corn, coffee and coffee extracts, potatoes, pork, and poultry products, with in-quota tariffs ranging from 30 percent to 50 percent.
While the Department of Agriculture in 2023 formed a working group to address issues regarding the MAV’s implementation and revise existing guidelines, the USTR said no guidelines have been set as of December 2024.
The USTR said the review mechanism of an executive order that sets a uniform 15 percent tariff on rice also creates market uncertainties since it remains unclear if the tariff will be extended or modified. The Department of Agriculture is supposed to review this every four months.
In signing Executive Order No. 62 in June 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. introduced a comprehensive tariff schedule for various products through 2028 to manage supply and inflation.
