Phl, US push trade facilitation in bilateral treaty

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine and US trade negotiators recently agreed to expand a little known bilateral trade and investment framework agreement the two countries signed on Nov. 9, 1989 to now include adopting the best customs practices to meet global standards.

That particular treaty, entered into by the long-time defense allies, had been drowned out and used little after the Philippine Senate booted out the US military bases that included Subic, Clark and Poro Point and John Hay in 1991.

It is now being resurrected to bolster bilateral trade relations between the two countries and the entry point has apparently been focused on facilitating the flow of goods between the US and the Philippines.

Covered in the new agreement include: the advanced exchange of customs laws, procedures and rules through publication including that in the Internet.

They have also agreed to speed up the release of imported goods from each of the contracting parties by simplifying customs procedures in keeping with the global standards set in the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) to which the Philippines sought to join only a couple of years back.

Also agreed was for each of the US and Philippine customs authorities to adopt automation to be able to meet international standards in modern customs administration and provide such systems to customs users.

On top of all the procedural agreement, the contracting countries have had a meeting of minds in helping each other modernize their customs procedures.

The latest round of agreement to activate a little-known trade and investment pact between the trading partners was seen to fall short of the comprehensive coverage of the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).

But it signaled a new era in the bilateral relations of the US and the Philippines after trade and political relationships soured up in the 1990s.