Pascual ‘tirelessly optimistic’ on RCEP
I’m still optimistic about its ratification in the first quarter of next year. It is really the commitment to the principle that we want to be part of the global industry
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual remains confident that the concurrence of the Senate of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP will be realized in the first quarter of 2023 despite its missed ratification by the Senate.
"I'm still optimistic about its ratification in the first quarter of next year. It is really the commitment to the principle that we want to be part of the global industry. The items included in the RCEP are part of an economy. We've been opening up as part of the ASEAN, and the ASEAN plus five. RCEP will bring this together. That's why RCEP is very important," he emphasized.
RCEP is a free trade agreement between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its five FTA partners (Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea).
He also said he is in constant communication with agricultural groups that have been in opposition to RCEP ratification.
"It is clear that their issues are not directly because of liberalization that will come about with RCEP, as their products will be shielded by any tariff liberalization, while some items are covered in 10 years. Several items are completely shielded," he said.
In a Senate hearing this December, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director Jayson Cainglet lamented that FTAs had resulted in a sharp 24.9-percent increase in agricultural imports in 2021, rising to $15.71 billion versus $12.58 billion in 2020.
With this, Senator Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called for the establishment of a technical working group to produce a committee report on the ratification of the RCEP.
The TWG will be composed of stakeholders from the local agriculture sector, the Departments of Agriculture and Trade and Industry, the Bureau of Customs, the Tariff Commission, the Philippine Competition Commission and the National Economic and Development Authority.
Pursuing FTAs with Latin America