- Negotiations
The Philippines signed its first bilateral FTA with Japan in 2006 and is presently party to the ASEAN FTA processes (China, India, Korea, Japan and Australia/New Zealand). The Philippine government has been trying to get Washington to offer an FTA, while those of New Zealand and Chile are apparently in favour of a bilateral deal with Manila. The Philippine government wants to join the TPP, and is engaged in efforts to lay the groundwork for negotiations with the EU for a possible FTA.
last update: May 2012
Photo: Michel Cermak/Twitter
2-Feb-2009
Focus
It was a dizzying roller coaster-year for trade. As the multilateral trade talks faltered, bilateral and regional free trade and economic partnership agreements on the other hand surged, fueled mainly by the aggressive push by the most powerful economies - the US, EU, Japan and China - of their respective brands of commercial diplomacy.
24-Nov-2008
A national coalition of 14 fisher federations in the Philippines warned against mandatory "sectoral" talks in the World Trade Organization, saying that it would only benefit rich countries that wanted more market access for their products. On Friday, which was World Fishers Day, about 200 members of Kilusang Mangingisda also picketed the offices of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture and Asian Development Bank to protest against policies promoting fisheries trade liberalization.
22-Oct-2008
The government of Chile is open to forging some form of free-trade pact with the Philippines, seeing that Asian countries, most especially those in the Asean, would be among the major global economic growth drivers in the next few years.
28-Sep-2008
PDI
Fearful fo the ongoing to realize a single market for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015, Filipino-owned pharmaceutical firms have asked the government to ensure that safety nets are in place for the local industry. Some are more concerned about the India-ASEAN FTA.
31-Jul-2008
Yehey
“Without the WTO, we need this FTA badly,” Donald Dee, a government special trade envoy and chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.
26-Jun-2008
USDA FAS
The agreement standardizes food safety regulations, rural development, biotechnology, and product distribution and marketing.
17-Jun-2008
GMANews
A militant fisher folk group urged Malacañang on Tuesday to disclose the content of the proposed RP-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which it said might be the top agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s state visit to the United States next week.
17-Apr-2008
A proposal to create an Office of the Philippine Trade Representative (OPTR) is being supported by the Department of Trade and Industry as a means to help strengthen the country’s capability to negotiate external trade.
9-Apr-2008
Filipino exporters will have to wait until a new US president opens up more markets and expands trade with the country’s largest trading partner, with a bilateral free trade deal with the Philippines absent in the Bush administration’s final policy agenda.
22-Jan-2008
ABS-CBN
The United States remains lukewarm to the Philippines’ push for a free trade agreement. While the US is seeking Philippine support in the WTO talks, the Philippines is asking the US government to move forward on an FTA or at least craft a new trade and investment framework agreement.
