The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it will swiftly start the legal scrubbing procedure after negotiations of the Philippine-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) were concluded last week.

“Regarding legal scrubbing, we will start that as soon as possible. We are targeting to sign the same this year,” said DTI- Undersecretary for International Trade Allan Gepty said in a Viber message on Sunday.

Legal scrubbing means both Chile and the Philippines will carefully check and finalize the legal text of the CEPA.

After this, representatives from the two nations will formally sign the CEPA document, which, according to the DTI, is targeted for next year.

Subsequently, the sealed agreement will go through domestic approval processes, including approval by the Philippine Senate and the Chilean counterpart, to make the trade pact official and active.

The Philippines-Chile CEPA is a comprehensive and modern agreement that goes beyond traditional tariff liberalization, as it establishes a modern framework for deeper cooperation in trade, investment, the digital economy, and incorporates commitments to sustainability, inclusivity, and economic resilience, as reflected in its chapters on Environment, Labor, Global Value Chains and Trade and Gender.

Further, the agreement builds on the complementary nature of the two economies.