The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) targets to introduce by mid-2025 a digital platform enabling exporters to determine if their products qualify under the relevant rules of origin requirements of free trade agreements (FTAs) and generalized system of preferences (GSP).

DTI-Export Marketing Bureau Director Bianca Pearl Sykimte shared this following the launch this week of a portal promoting the use of FTAs and GSP in the country.

Sykimte said the DTI is committed to closely working with concerned government agencies and South Korean counterparts on the development of the second component of the Origin Management System (OMS) for the Promotion of FTAs in the Philippines project.

“...There are different product-specific rules for each agreement so the platform will be able to provide the information which is the best FTA to use so that your product will be qualifying and if your product is not qualifying; it can provide suggestions on which raw materials you should replace and source, whether locally or within ASEAN, so that your product will qualify (under relevant ROO requirements),” she said.

Sykimte said they also hope to link the OMS with the Bureau of Customs (BoC)-related process of applying for the product evaluation report and eventually the certificate of origin.

Meanwhile, exporters are called to avail themselves of the services for free provided by the information portal, https://philippineftas.dti.gov.ph.

Dedicated customer support

“We will put in place a dedicated customer support center concerning all inquiries lodged in the platform. So this does not cover only FTAs with Korea but all our FTAs, including GSPs, with Canada, UK (United Kingdom), EU (European Union) and the US (United States),” Sykimte said.

She said exporters can fully utilize the benefits of trade arrangements if they are well prepared, and navigate and utilize this portal effectively.

“The project’s two-fold approach of improving access to FTA-related information and simplifying ROO compliance will help empower more MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) to participate internationally and reap the benefits of these agreements,” Sykimte said.

“We want to make understanding FTAs easy and make exporting using FTAs easier for Philippine businesses,” she added.

Information portal

Sykimte said the launch of the information portal is one of the components of the OMS for the Promotion of FTAs in the Philippines project being supported by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and implemented through the Korea Trade Network (KTNET) and the DTI-EMB.