BRUSSELS — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. would bring up the status of the Philippines' European Union Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus, which grants the Philippines zero tariffs on 6,274 products or 66 percent of all EU tariff lines.

"We'll bring it up with the EU. I don't think one thing should be related to the other, but we'll see," Marcos said in an interview with the media aboard the flight to Brussels on Sunday evening.

He made the response when asked about his administration's move after the country's GSP+ status faced hurdles in February, following threats from the EU Parliament to temporarily hold trade privileges for the country amid allegations of human rights abuses and lack of press freedom during the Duterte administration.

In February this year, at least 627 members of the EU Parliament urged the European Commission to temporarily withdraw the Philippines' GSP+ status if the government of then-president Rodrigo Duterte will not swiftly comply with its human rights obligation, apart from 25 pressing concerns raised by the EU Parliament, including the war on drugs.

The trade preference scheme allows the duty-free entry of over 6,000 products from the Philippines to the European Union, on the condition that the government upholds 27 international conventions on human rights, labor, environment and climate action and good governance.

The Philippines' participation in the GSP+ will expire in December 2023.

In 2021, the Philippines recorded its highest utilization rate at 76 percent of total eligible exports, including tuna, processed fruits, and spectacle lenses.

The President is in Brussels to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian-European Union Commemorative Summit from 12 to 14 December.

He is expected to hold 10 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the ASEAN-EU Summit.

Last month, EU Delegation in Manila chief, Ambassador Luc Véron, said renewal of the Philippines' GSP+ status is within reach following the "good engagement" on the EU monitoring done last February and March this year.