The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is encouraging exporters to utilize and take advantage of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) with the United Kingdom (UK), noting the huge opportunities provided by the scheme.
Allan Gepty, DTI undersecretary, in an interview on Tuesday expressed this sentiment when sought for an update on the progress of the scheme which took effect in June 2023.
Gepty echoed the remarks made by DTI Secretary Cristina Roque at the “Forecasting 2025: UK-PH Economic Perspectives” dialogue on January 30 where she noted the significance of DCTS in further facilitating Philippine free trade with the British economy.
DCTS provides preferential access to the UK market for Philippine goods, Roque said.
The DCTS is UK’s own preferential trade arrangement when it broke away from the European Union which has its Generalized System of Preference.
The DCTS lowered or removed tariffs on additional 156 products for developing countries, including the Philippines, shipped to the UK.
The Philippines exports a range of high value products to the UK including tuna, shirts, and starch, which benefit from significant tariff reductions under the DCTS, the DCTS website showed.
Based on the project brief posted on the website, DCTS has the potential to save Philippine businesses over 20 million pounds a year on UK export tariffs.
Gepty did not confirm the numbers but based on the statistics of the UK Department for Business & Trade, total two-way trade between the Philippines and the UK reached an all-time high of 2.8 billion pounds in 2023, topping the record of the 24 billion pounds in 2022 before the DCTS took effect in 2023.
The website showed exports to the UK from the Philippines rose 14 percent in 2023 from 1.4 billion pounds in 2022 to 1.6 billion pounds,
The UK was the 3rd destination market of PH exports under the EU-GSP+ in 2019 with a notably high utilization rate of 75 percent.