RP seeks additional flexibilities to gain access to EU market

The Philippines will seek additional "flexibilities" from the European Union (EU) to gain additional market access, according to Garments and Textile Export Board (GTEB) Executive Director Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes.

Specifically, Reyes said the country is asking that it be allowed to shift from non-moving categories to so-called "hot categories.

This year, Reyes said, the GTEB is aiming to increase its exports to the EU by 16.36 percent or an export target of $445 million.

Reyes said the Philippines is exploring other ways of gaining access to the EU market through such schemes as "swapping." According to Reyes, the Philippines has a "swapping" arrangement with Indonesia which gave its quota allocation for a certain category to the Philippines in exchange for a quota allocation for another category.

Because of the swap with Indonesia, Reyes said the Philippines was able to get an additional allocation for Category V which is classified as heavy knitted tops, sweaters or pullovers.

While the US remains the Philippine’s top export market, the GTEB has noted the potential of the EU market.

Last year, the country’s exports to the EU reached $373 million, accounting for 11.64 percent of total exports. Exports to the EU grew by 16.21 percent last year from only $321 million in 1999.

The GTEB said exports to the EU were driven by a 32-percent and 25-percent increase in quota-free and exempt items.

Restricted exports (those subject to quota and under consultation/trigger level) grew by 12.3 percent accounting for 80 percent of the total increase in exports, while unrestricted exports grew by 11.5 percent accounting for the remaining 20 percent of the total.

The 12.3-percent growth in restricted exports was driven by a 35.3-percent increase in quota exports to Canada and a 15-percent increase in restricted exports to the EU.

Based on the data, the GTEB said, it may be inferred that exports in quota-free and exempt categories to the EU have surfaced as a strong lead market and should continue to be aggressively pursued. – Marianne Go