DTI hopeful on FTA with US

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is hopeful the Philippines’ exclusion from the US government’s counterfeiting and piracy watchlist will help push talks for a bilateral trade deal as well as allow the country to continue to enjoy benefits under the US’ trade preferences scheme.

In a statement, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez expressed hope the country’s good standing for seven straight years in the Special 301 report released by the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) would reinvigorate discussions for a possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US.

Released every year, the Special 301 report identifies countries unable to effectively protect and enforce intellectual property rights or that deny market access to US innovators and creators.

The Philippines has consistently been out of the Special 301 report since 2014.

Lopez said the strong collaboration of the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR) network has made the country’s good standing possible.

NCIPR is composed of the DTI, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, Department of Justice, Bureau of Customs, Food and Drug Administration, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Optical Media Board, National Book Development Board, Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and National Telecommunications Commission.

While the Philippines was not part of the Special 301 list, the US raised concern on the Philippines being identified as one of the leading sources of counterfeit medicines distributed globally by the recent study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The US also said there is a need for the Philippines to come up with measures to ensure government agencies use only legitimate software.

“As chair of the NCIPR, DTI will continue promoting collaboration within the team. We will work closely to sustain the gains and clear the country’s name from allegations reported by the USTR such as the country being a source of fake medicines and the Philippine government’s use of unlicensed software,” Lopez said.

Apart from helping push discussions for a possible FTA, DTI is also hopeful the Philippines’ exclusion from the Special 301 report would enable the country to continue to enjoy benefits under the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) which allows products to enter the US at zero tariff.

The US Congress is expected to renew this trade benefit before it expires this December.

The Philippines has been a beneficiary of the US GSP since 1989.