CEBU CITY, January 31 (PIA)---Nearly a hundred
participants from the business, academe and export sectors attended the
information session on “Doing Business with the EU using GSP+” organized by the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at Cebu Parklane International, Hotel
recently.
According to Nelia Navarro, DTI Provincial Director, the
Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) is an autonomous trade arrangement
under which the European Union grants non-reciprocal trade preferences to
export beneficiary countries.
The Philippines has been a beneficiary under the Regular GSP
arrangement that covers 6,209 products, 2442 of which are subject to zero duty
while 3,767 are subject to reduced tariffs. Under this scheme, the Philippines
exports to EU has reached EUR1,71.25 million in 2013.
“It was only last month that the Philippines was granted by the
European Union with the GSP+ status. It has a larger coverage of 6, 274
products, all of which will be accorded to zero duty,” Navarro said.
During the event a study made by DTI was presented wherein it
projected that EU-GSP+ will increase Philippine exports by EUR611.8
million during its first year of availment.
The product sectors projected to have highest increases are:
animal or vegetable fats and oils (EUR231.2 million), prepared foodstuffs
(EUR151.2 million), textile and garments (EUR79.7 million), and footwear,
headwear, and umbrellas (EUR28.5 million).
This increase will generate 267,587 new jobs in both the
agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
DTI Export Management Bureau Senen Perlada said that the
Philippines is the only member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) given this GSP+ privilege giving the country an edge over other
countries.
“That’s why exporters are encouraged to produce quality products
as it guarantees successful trade to the EU,” Perlada said.
He said that the EU-GSP+ is just an icing on the cake hence,
exporters must not put all their eggs in there because at the end of the day,
it is the quality that will determine the marketability of the product.
DTI assures that they will provide full assistance to exporters in
the utilization of this GSP+ status so that the Philippines will acquire a
better share of the market.
The session was one of the nationwide information campaigns of DTI
to raise awareness on the benefits of the EU-GSP+. (mbcn/FCC/PIA7-Cebu)