PH to ratify global trade deal this year

The Department of Trade and Industry is targeting to ratify the world’s biggest trade deal this year, placing the trade pact a step closer to being entered into force, as the economy tries to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Allan Gepty, assistant secretary of the Trade and Industry, said they were targetting to finish this year the ratification process of the RCEP, or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.

The Philippines signed the RCEP in November last year along with 14 other countries, including China. Together, the member states account for 30 percent of the global economy, providing an opportunity for growth if the trade pact is maximized.

“Our plan is to finish the ratification process and the Senate’s concurrence by [2021]. Since 2022 is an elections year, we need to finish everything by [2021]. That’s the target,” Gepty recently told reporters.

The RCEP was signed by the 10 member states of Association of the Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) and five free trade agreement (FTA) partners, namely Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan and China.

The DTI said the RCEP countries accounted for 50 percent of the Philippine export market and 61 percent of Philippine import sources last year. The region also accounted for 11.4 percent of foreign direct investments that entered the country in 2019.

Gepty, who was the country’s lead negotiator during the RCEP talks, said the deal needed to be ratified by at least six Asean member states and at least 3 Asean external partners before it enters into force.

“We’ve agreed among the participating countries that we’ll work hard to hopefully finish [this] by 2021,” he said.

The DTI said the deal not only included the usual areas of trade in goods and services, investment and economic cooperation, but also emerging trade areas such as intellectual property, electronic commerce, government procurement and competition.

Calling it a “catalyst for the country’s economic development,” Gepty previously said that the deal would provide an enhanced market access for key products like garments, automotive parts and agricultural products.

He added that this would be a platform for more investments in the country in vital sectors such as manufacturing, research and development, financial services, game development, E-commerce and the Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing sector.

He said skilled Filipino professionals and businesspersons would likewise benefit from easier entry in RCEP countries.

But while the RCEP would improve market access, it also provided “flexibilities,” according to Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, noting that there was an exclusion list for the Philippines’ “sensitive” products, which were mostly agricultural products.

“RCEP will bring job opportunities for the Filipinos in the country as it facilitates inclusive and open regional economic policies, especially for MSMEs, who can take advantage of the increasing globalization and creation of new supply chain linkages,” Lopez said.