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Filipinos must focus on RCEP potential gains, not losses: DTI chief

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MANILA — Filipinos should look at the potential gains instead of losses from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said on Monday. RCEP, a free trade agreement among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, eliminates up to 90 percent of tariffs, or the taxes imposed on imports, among these countries within 20 years.Pascual said a study measured the gains, which could be 2 percent of GDP, compared to potential losses of 0.6 percent of GDP.&quot;Why are we looking at losses and not potential change? I think we have to change the perspective. We need our stakeholders, and our business so that they are able to take advantage of the provisions of the RCEP,&quot; he said.&quot;There are gains that can be achieved even by some agricultural products. There are products that are now maybe exported to China, Japan, Korea at lower tariff than before. So these are potential gains ,&quot; he said.He said more professionals would also be allowed to practice in member countries. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/02/21/23/what-is-rcep-why-is-it-important">What is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership?</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/01/23/rcep-not-magic-pill-but-ph-will-reap-benefits-senator">RCEP not magic pill but PH will reap benefits: senator</a></li></ul>Several groups have said the agriculture sector is not competitive enough to face the influx of imports. &quot;We are conscious of that, that’s why our negotiators are very strong in their position to list down products that will be excluded in the tariff adjustments,&quot; he said. Sensitive items, such as rice, cereal, sugar, coffee, animal feeds, pork, lettuce, carrots and onions, among others, are exempted from the tariff adjustments, Pascual said. Meanwhile, some local agricultural products such as preserved pineapple, papaya and durian, will receive preferential tariffs from China and South Korea.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2490411" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div>PURSING GSP+ RENEWAL</div>Pascual said it is also important for the Philippines to renew the GSP+ preferential treatment given by the European Union. The status allowed the country duty-free export of some 6,000 eligible products to the EU market.The Philippines was awarded the GSP+ status in 2012. The EU earlier announced that the country was included in the list of countries eligible for renewal of the GSP+ status provided that it implements 27 international core conventions on labor rights, human rights, good governance, and the environment, the Office of the Press Secretary said in October.Pascual said he has met with EU Commission officials to discuss the renewal of the GSP+The ICC recently reopened a probe into the previous administration&#x27;s war on drugs. Pascual said he would &quot;leave matter to the Department of Justice&quot; and &quot;focus on the [DTI] mandate.&quot; &quot;I went to Brussels to meet with 2 committees, I met the EVP of the European Commission and discussed the Philippines with respect with the 27 conventions to go with our GSP+ preferential treatment. We had a very pleasant discussion,&quot; he said.&quot;During the recent visit of our European Parliament, I told them these things, in any case with or without GSP+, good governance, moving towards e-government. We rely on our courts to dispense justice in the Philippines, we handle our labor relations quite well,&quot; he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/16/22/eu-open-to-pursuing-free-trade-deal-gsp-discussions-with-philippines-ops">EU open to pursuing free trade deal, GSP+ discussions with Philippines: OPS</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/14/22/european-lawmakers-may-visit-ph-more-positive-talks-seen">European parliamentary visit to PH possible; more positive talks seen: envoy</a></li></ul>

Filipinos should look at potential gains instead of losses from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Trade Sec. Pascual said.