Tariff cuts on environment-friendly goods OKd

Member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) have firmed up their commitments to cut tariffs on environmental goods, a move seen to promote trade worth $500 billion globally.

The tariff reduction is expected to unlock new sources of economic growth, while giving impetus to the Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations in the World Trade Organization which are set to continue this year.

According to the Apec Committee on Trade and Investment, member economies including the Philippines have published the implementation schedule for the tariff cuts covering 54 environment-friendly products.

The conclusion of this Apec initiative, the first multilateral tariff-cutting arrangement in 20 years, will help lower the cost of environmental products such as solar panels, wind turbines and air pollution control equipment. Along with emerging efforts in Apec to support service providers that use clean technologies, the tariff reductions will help the region meet its target of doubling its renewable energy capacity by 2030 and reducing energy intensity by 45 percent by 2035.

“Each Apec economy has put forward an implementation plan detailing the progress of their work to cut tariffs on the region’s list of 54 environmental goods,” Marie Sherylyn D. Aquia, the new chair of the Apec, was quoted in the statement as saying.

“The reduction of tariffs under the Apec environmental goods initiative is an important step forward for trade and green growth. Transparent, easy-to-access information on tariff cuts … will help businesses take advantage of new trade opportunities while promoting clean, efficient energy use and lower carbon emissions in the region,” Aquia said.

The pursuit of an Apec environmental goods tariff reduction arrangement was set in motion in a declaration issued at the conclusion of the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting hosted by the United States in Honolulu in 2011. The list of 54 environmental goods was endorsed in 2012 when Russia hosted the the meeting in Vladivostok.

The Philippine government, for its part, issued in June last year an executive order to modify the tariff rates on certain environmental goods.

President Aquino approved Executive Order (EO) 185, which stated that certain environmental goods would be subject to the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rate of 5 percent.