By Kris Crismundo/PNA
MANILA — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), together with the embassies of Norway and Switzerland, is urging Philippine-based exporters to take advantage of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the Philippines-EFTA FTA not only provides the duty-free entry of local exports but also makes exporting to EFTA member states, such as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, much easier.
“There’s really a feature of the agreement that facilitates trade, it’s the origin declaration scheme, whereby the certificates of origin is greatly facilitated and also there’s an exporter accreditation program,” Rodolfo said in a reception hosted by the Norwegian and Swiss embassies in Manila Tuesday evening.
He told reporters that unlike other free trade deals, this FTA allows raw materials of finished products to be sourced from other countries as long as they are manufactured and shipped from the Philippines to EFTA.
He added that enterprises eyeing to export to EFTA under the FTA can apply for “approved exporter” status at the Bureau of Customs for free. This one-time registration will eliminate the Certificate of Origin requirement for every shipment to EFTA. Enterprises do not also need to sign the origin declaration and can only indicate their unique customs authorization number in the invoice.
“So compared with other FTAs, this one will be make it easier for both sides, but mostly also for Filipino exporters who take advantage of the FTA,” the trade official said.
With this relaxed rules and duty-free access under the FTA, Rodolfo projects the bilateral trade between the Philippines and EFTA to increase by 20 percent in the first year of implementation, and possibly double or triple trade figures in the next three years.
“We know by experience, because EFTA has 28 agreements with 39 countries. Switzerland has more than 60 free trade agreements, so we know actually that trade volume is increasing year by year,” Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines Andrea Reichlin said.
“In this case with the Philippines, it will improve not only trade but also investments, and generally partnerships, exchange of technology,” she added.
On the other hand, Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Bjorn Jahnsen mentioned that the first shipment from EFTA under the FTA arrived in the country last month.
“With the new FTA, authorities have substantially improved the economic ties of both the Philippines and EFTA states through elimination of trade barriers,” Jahnsen said.
“Now it is time for the private sector enter the stage and to benefit from it,” the Norwegian envoy added.
The Philippines-EFTA FTA was signed in Bern, Switzerland in April 2016. However, it only became effective last June 1, 2018.
