UK seeks PH exporters’ inputs on new trade preference scheme

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  • The Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau is encouraging Philippine exporters to participate in a public consultation on the United Kingdom’s new trade preference scheme
  • Having officially left the European Union in 2020, the UK will introduce in 2022 the Developing Countries Trading Scheme
  • The UK is the 18th top export market of the Philippines, which exports an average of US$450 million annually to the European country

The Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) is encouraging Philippine exporters to participate in a public consultation on the United Kingdom’s new trade preference scheme.

After the UK’s official departure from the European Union in 2020, it now aims to introduce in 2022 a simpler and more generous trade preferences scheme to be called Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), DTI-EMB said in a statement.

DTI-EMB said major policy changes being considered by the UK include:

  • Simplifying the rules of origin (ROO) requirements for least developed countries
  • Reducing tariffs for low-income and lower-middle-income countries
  • Amending the approach to goods graduation, which suspends preferential rates on particular goods from certain countries based on their competitiveness
  • Amending the conditions and reporting requirements that enable a low-income or lower-middle-income country to benefit from more generous provisions through the Enhanced Framework and
  • Simplifying the conditions that could lead to variation or suspension of preferences for any beneficiary country

The UK is the 18th top export market of the Philippines, whose annual exports to the European country averages US$450 million. Top exports include tuna, desiccated coconut, abaca fiber, spectacle lenses, and semiconductors.

Copies of the GSP consultation questions and the UK’s Statement of Direction are available at https://tinyurl.com/yzy2yn7w.

To participate in the consultation, exporters may access the questionnaire at https://ditresearch.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_71Uup1kN0ZhD8tEon or before September 12, 2021.

READ: PH exports to UK to remain tariff-free

The UK officially left the EU on January 31, 2020 after voting to leave the bloc in 2016. Despite this, Philippine exports under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) continued to enter the UK tariff-free in 2021 after the latter included the Philippines in its own GSP program, which largely replicates the EU’s GSP.

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