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Philippine government consults stakeholders on possible FTA with EFTA

Xinhua, November 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Philippine government has started consultation with stakeholders on the country's trade engagement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), a senior government official said Tuesday.

The recent consultation with the business sector and civil society organizations focused on free trade agreement (FTA) issues, which include technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, public procurement, competition, and trade and sustainable development, said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr.

"Our goal is to maximize benefits of our trade agreements with Europe. An FTA with EFTA is a logical next step to expand market access of the Philippines in the continent," he said.

He said that EFTA is an important global economic player and trading partner of the Philippines.

In 2014, the total commodity trade between EFTA States and the country amounted to around 636 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, total foreign direct investments in the Philippines' from the EFTA states has increased steadily in the last few years.

The country is currently in negotiations with the European Union (EU) for a possible FTA and has successfully gained beneficiary country status for the EU-Generalized System of Preferences Plus (EU-GSP+), the official added.

EU-GSP+ is a preferential tariff scheme, which allows the Philippines to export more than 6,000 products to any EU member country tariff free. Endit