FTA hits SC decision on Safeguard Measures Act

The multi-sectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) criticized yesterday the decision of the First Division of the Supreme Court (SC) upholding the preliminary injunction restraining the government from enforcing Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act (SMA).

According to the FTA, the SC granted the petition filed by importers of steel billets by reversing an earlier Court of Appeals (CA) decision setting aside the injunction issued by a Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela which restrained the government from implementing RA 8800 without any prior hearing.

Wigberto Tañada, convenor of the FTA, described the SC decision as "another devastating blow to our long suffering local industries and agriculture which have been under constant attack from the injurious imports and unfair trade practices of foreign countries."

According to Tañada, "this SC ruling unfairly ties the hands of the Secretaries of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Agriculture (DA) in imposing safeguard duties intended to protect local industries and rural producers."

Tañada warned that "in this most crucial time that domestic industries and agriculture are on survival mode, this is the least we expect from the SC. This new ruling will put into grave and imminent danger the survival of our domestic industries and agriculture."

Petitioners in GR No. 157498 assailed the constitutionality of RA 8800 on the ground that it contravenes and impairs the Philippines’ treaty obligations under the WTO Agreement on safeguards despite the ratification by the Philippine Senate of the WTO Agreement.

Tañada recalled the decision of the SC in the Tañada v. Angara case where the SC upheld the accession of the Philippines to the WTO with the promise that "safety nets" like the safeguard measures are available to provide temporary protection to local producers suffering from import surge.

While there is no final judgment in the main case regarding the constitutionality of RA 8800, the RTC Valenzuela injunction on the implementation of RA 8800 will be in force.

The government cannot enforce RA 8800 and all local industries and producers that have been granted safeguards, including special safeguards, can no longer rely on it because the Bureau of Customs (BoC) is restrained from collecting the safeguard tariff.