Philippines, Japan postpone talks on trade deal review

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and Japan have agreed to move to next year discussions for a general review of their trade agreement.

In a Note Verbale from the Embassy of Japan, the Japanese government had asked the Philippines for an alternative date for the 4th Meeting of the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA) Joint Committee, which was originally scheduled for this month.

The 4th Joint Committee Meeting will discuss the results of the meetings held previously by the sub-committees on trade in goods; rules of origin; investments; and movement of natural persons (nurses and care workers).

In the 3rd Meeting of the PJEPA Joint Committee in February this year, the Philippines and Japan had agreed to conduct preliminary talks on the general review through the various sub-committees of PJEPA.

To prepare the government for the review, the Department of Trade and Industry had conducted nationwide consultations with concerned stakeholders.

Through “One Country, One Voice,” the DTI gathered more than 300 representatives from the academe, civil society, business sector and government agencies to discuss trade policies including the PJEPA.

“We are consolidating comments gathered from our stakeholders during the PJEPA consultations held nationwide. The major points raised by businesses, academe and civil society are being considered in the development of the Philippine agenda for the forthcoming review,” said Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr.

During the consultations, stakeholders have stressed the need to raise the tariff rate quota (TRQ) for agricultural exports to Japan and for access to technical assistance to support capacity building in developing standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

Issues on the movement of natural persons, specifically nurses, were also raised.

In the meantime, the DTI said it was forming a consortium of academic institutions to conduct research on the economic impact of the country’s trade agreements and to consolidate available papers on various studies regarding the subject.

Japan remains one of the Philippines’ top trading partners. It ranked No. 1 in 2010, with trade amounting to $14.5 billion accounting for 13.73 percent of the country’s total trade.

Following the signing of the PJEPA in 2007, a 92-percent surge in Japanese investments was recorded by the Board of Investments, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and Clark Development Corp. in various industries.

Immediately after the agreements ratification in 2008, Japan’s share in the Philippines’ total foreign direct investments rose to 58 percent in 2009 from only 9 percent in 2008. This rate of growth was sustained last year.

Japan has also been one of the country’s major sources of Official Development Assistance (ODA), accounting for one-third of the ODA extended to the Philippines in 2008. From 1967 to 2008, the country received $20.56 billion in ODA from Japan.

The scope of PJEPA, the first bilateral agreement entered by the Philippines, included trade in goods, services, investments, movement of natural persons, intellectual property, government procurement, competition, improvement of business environment, and cooperation.