RESTRICTED  
  
WT/TPR/W/ 146 
2 May  2018 
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Trade Policy Review Body    
 
* In Original language only/ En langue originale seulement /En el idioma original solamente . 
  
THE PHILIPPINES  
DRAFT MINUTES  OF THE MEETING* HELD ON 26 AN D 28 MARCH 2018  
Delegations are invited to submit factual corrections, if any, on their own statement to the 
Secretariat ( Mrs Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org , or to  tprd@wto.org ) no later 
than 16 May 2018 . 
 
Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales  
 
PHILIPPINES  
PROJET DE COMPTE REN DU DE LA RÉUNION* TENUE LES 26 ET 28 MARS 2018  
Les délégations sont invitées à soumettre  leurs éventuelles corrections factuelles concernant leurs 
propres déclarations au Secrétariat ( Mme Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org , ou 
tprd@wto.org ) le 16 mai 2018  au plus tard.  
 
Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales  
 
FILIPINAS  
PROYECTO DE ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN* CELEBRADA LOS DÍAS 26 Y 28 DE MARZO DE 2018 
Las delegaciones pueden enviar a la Secretaría (Sr a. Barbara  Blanquart: 
barbara.blanquart@wto.org , o tprd@wto.org ) a más tardar el 16 de mayo de 2018  las 
correcciones fácticas que deseen introducir en sus propias declaraciones.  
 
 
_______________  
 
  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  TRADE POLICY REVIEW  
THE PHILIPPINES  
DRAFT  MINUTES OF THE MEETI NG 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr Juan Carlos González (Colombia)  
CONTENTS  
 
1   INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  ................................ ......................  3 
2   OPENING STATEMENT BY  THE REPRESENTATIVE O F THE PHILIPPINES  ......................  5 
3   STATEMENT BY THE DIS CUSSANT  ................................ ................................ ...............  9 
4   STATEMENTS BY MEMBER S ................................ ................................ ........................  12 
5   REPLIES BY THE REPRE SENTATIVE OF THE PHI LIPPINES AND ADDITIO NAL 
COMMENTS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  42 
6   CONCLUDING REMARKS B Y THE CHAIRPERSON  ................................ ........................  49 
7   ELECTION OF A NEW CH AIRPERSON OF THE TPR B ................................ ....................  51 
 
 
Note: Advance written questions and additional questions by WTO Members, and the replies 
provided by the Philippines are reproduced in document WT/TPR/M/368/Add.1 and will be available 
online at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp_rep_e. htm. WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
1.1.  The fifth Trade Policy Review of the Philippines was held on 26 and 28 March 2018. The 
Chairperson, H.E.  Mr Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Colombia), welcomed the delegation of the Philippines, 
headed by H.E. Dr Ceferino Rodolfo, Undersecretary of Trade and Industr y; the rest of the 
delegation; and the discussant, H.E. Ambassador Stephen de Boer (Canada).  
1.2.  The Chairperson recalled the purpose of the Trade Policy Reviews and the main elements of 
the procedures for the meeting. The report by the Philippines was contai ned in document 
WT/TPR/G/368 and that of the WTO Secretariat in WT/TPR/S/368. The Chairperson also informed 
Members that, as indicated in the addendum to the airgram, there would be a second agenda item 
at the end of the first session, namely the election of a new Chairperson of the TPRB.  
1.3.  Questions by the following delegations had been submitted in writing before the deadline: 
Japan; Canada; Peru; Chile; El Salvador; Argentina; Australia; Dominican Republic; European 
Union; Norway; China; United States; Ukr aine; Brazil; and Thailand. The following delegations 
submitted written questions after the deadline: Singapore; New Zealand; Indonesia; Malaysia; 
Chinese Taipei; Republic of Korea; and Turkey.  
1.4.  During the previous TPR meeting, Members had commended the Phi lippines for its positive 
economic performance. It had been noted then that this performance had been based on a 
relatively open trade regime, supported by high inflows of remittances and a fiscal stimulus in 
response to the global economic crisis. Nonethe less, Members had noted that the economy had 
been operating below potential and had encouraged the Philippines to speed up reforms, further 
improve its business environment and liberalize its FDI regime in order to raise productivity and 
compete more succe ssfully vis -a-vis neighbouring economies with lower costs. During the current 
review period, the Philippines' real GDP had expanded at an annual average rate of about 6%, per 
capita GDP had increased, and poverty rates had declined. The Secretariat's repor t noted that high 
growth rates had been achieved on the back of a prudent fiscal policy, aiming at strengthening 
resilience and building a fiscal buffer, while at the same time infrastructure spending had stepped 
up substantially. Trade had played an impor tant role in the current growth phase, which had been 
marked by a strong growth of manufactured exports, in particular of electronics and electrical 
goods, as well as by buoyant exports of services, in particular the success of its business process 
outsour cing sector.  
1.5.  At the time of the previous Review, Members had praised the Philippines for its strong 
commitment to the multilateral trading system. Indeed, the Philippines had continued to 
participate very actively in the WTO. During the period under review , it had provided well over 
300 notifications. However, according to the Secretariat report some notifications remained 
outstanding, notably in the area of agriculture. In October 2016, the Philippines had ratified the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement. It had notified its category "A" commitments, in August 2014, and 
the authorities were currently working on category "B" and "C" commitments. Members had 
expressed an interest in learning further about this through their advance questions.  
1.6.  While being an active WTO Member, the Philippines granted preferential treatment to a total 
of 15 partners namely the other nine parties of ASEAN, plus Australia, New Zealand, China, India, 
Japan, and the Republic of Korea, all of which had negotiated agreements with ASEAN.  
1.7.  With regard to trade policy, the Secretariat report noted that the Philippines' average applied 
MFN tariff was 7.6%, up from 6.4% at the time of the last Review. 65% of tariff lines, including all 
agricultural lines, were bound and the simple average bound  rate was 25.7%. A wide range of 
tariff and tax exemptions were provided under specific laws impacting government revenues. The 
use of contingency measures had remained very limited during the period under review.  
1.8.  Other important trade and trade related re form initiatives had been undertaken during the 
review period, notably in the investment regime. While the Philippines continued to limit foreign 
investment in a number of activities through the use of a negative list, the Secretariat report noted 
that it had also taken some liberalizing steps including the elimination of FDI restrictions for 
professional services and banking services. Members recalled that during its last Review, the 
Philippines had been encouraged to adopt competition legislation and furt her promote competition 
in the economy. An important step in this area had been the adoption of the Philippines' first WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  Competition Act in 2015, and the establishment of a competition authority in 2016. Some advance 
questions for this TPR related to competi tion enforcement. Furthermore, new legislation on public 
procurement had entered into force in 2016. As it had been the case for the previous TPR, 
Members' advance questions indicated that they wished to learn further about the public 
procurement regime. A lso, a new Food Safety Act had been promulgated in 2013 and its 
implementing legislation had entered into force in 2015. On the other hand, the Philippines' 
SPS-related import requirements for food had remained largely unchanged. Some of the advance 
questi ons by Members, as it had been the case for the previous TPR, related to this area.  
1.9.  The Chairperson drew Members' attention to other areas included in the advance written 
questions where Members were interested in receiving further information. These inclu ded: import 
licensing and restrictions, the import regime for rice, pre -shipment inspection, standards and 
technical regulations, local content requirements, registration and inspection requirements, export 
performance requirements, protection and enforcem ent of intellectual property rights, and rules 
for foreign participation in the telecoms and financial services sectors.  
1.10.   This meeting would be a good opportunity for Members to discuss in greater detail issues of 
interest to them and of systemic importance  to the multilateral trading system. The Chairperson 
looked forward to a fruitful exchange.  
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  2  OPENING STATEMENT BY  THE REPRESENTATIVE O F THE PHILIPPINES 
(H.E.  DR CEFERINO RODOLFO)  
Introduction  
2.1.  Let me begin my remarks by expressing our sincere appreciation,  on behalf of Philippine 
Trade Minister Ramon M. Lopez, for the introduction made by the Chairperson of the Trade Policy 
Review Body, Ambassador Juan Carlos González  and to all delegations, especially those present 
today, for their contributions so far in order to make this review thoroughly productive. Secondly, I 
am most grateful to the distinguished Permanent Representative of Canada, Ambassador Stephen 
C. De Boer, for serving as a discussant in this review. Thirdly, on behalf of the Philippine 
Governmen t, let me extend my gratitude to the Secretariat for the tremendous work they have 
done in preparing and delivering a full report on the Philippines. This is the Philippines' fifth trade 
policy review in the WTO. We highly value the Trade Policy Review as a mechanism to better 
understand each Members' trade and economic policies, and openly discuss and share our 
respective successes and challenges.  
2.2.  It is an honour to share the Philippines' progress and plans in economic and trade policies on 
behalf of a dis tinguished delegation from Manila. As a testament of the importance of the TPR 
Mechanism, our delegation is composed of high -level officials representing the different ministries 
that lead in the Philippines' participation in the multilateral trading syste m and in implementing our 
commitments to the WTO with the support of our Philippine Mission here in Geneva.  
2.3.  For the next 10 minutes, I will share with you that the Philippines has been steadfast in 
implementing reforms — involving amendment of decades old  legislations. Amidst a sluggish 
global economy, our economy has grown and has become more resilient. Moving forward, the 
Philippines will not only continue but will further accelerate and deepen policy reforms.  
Economy and Trade  
2.4.  Six years ago during the fourth TPR of the Philippines, we presented a picture of the country 
which was at the verge of sustained growth. I am pleased to share with you that thus far, after a 
change in Administration that not only continued reforms of the past but — more important ly —
have been pursuing these with greater resolve, the promise of sustained growth has held so very 
true. We have recorded a 6.6%  six-year average GDP growth from 2012 to 2017. It is the 
Philippines' highest six -year expansion in more than 40 years. The latest edition of the World 
Bank's Global Economic Prospects ranked us as the world's 10th fastest growing economy in 2017.  
2.5.  As indicated in both the Secretariat and the Government reports, during the period of review, 
the Government undertook a wide range  of economic and trade -related policy reforms. Thus, 
amidst the challenges posed by the slug global economy, including that of a weak trading 
environment, we were able to demonstrate not only resilience but equally important, strength, and 
kept a steady, n on-inflationary growth.  
2.6.  While services still continued to be a strong driver, it has now been complemented by the 
resurgence of manufacturing — which broadened our production base, diversified sources of 
growth, and immensely improved the economy's degree  of resilience.  In 2017, for example, 
manufacturing's growth of 7.2% outpaced that of services at 6.6%.  
2.7.  By 2017, the Philippines' total trade amounted to US$142 billion, up by 10% from 
US$129  billion in 2016, or up by 35% if reckoned from 2012. Trade rose  steadily during the period 
of review.  
2.8.  On the expenditure side, growth came from both strong private and public spending, 
supported by the increase in employment, the steady inflow of remittances from overseas 
Filipinos, low and stable prices and the Gover nment's thrust to deliver public services and social 
protection programmes, including public scholarship programmes, health expenditure programmes 
and assistance to victims of very destructive typhoons which hit the Philippines recurrently during 
the perio d of review.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  2.9.  All these positive numbers will be meaningless, however, if they do not impact on the people. 
During the Philippines' third Trade Policy Review in 2005, our poverty incidence was at about 26%. 
In 2012, it declined slightly to about 25%. By 201 5, it had been reduced to 21.6% - giving us 
greater resolve to continue reforms until we have lifted all Filipinos out of poverty.  
2.10.   Allow me now to highlight some of the critical reforms and programmes in the areas of 
trade and investment policy that were pursued during the review period.  
Customs and Trade Facilitation  
2.11.   Foremost is the passage of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act in May 2016, 
amending a law that was first introduced in 1957. The new legislation modernizes customs rules 
and procedures  for faster trade, reduces opportunities for corruption, improves customs service 
delivery and improves supply chain connectivity. This domestic legislation complements the entry 
into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and has allowed us to subm it our notification 
on Categories A, B and C of our TFA commitments; and to initiate concrete steps for establishing 
the National Committee on Trade Facilitation which will be composed of customs and trade officials 
and private stakeholders.  
Competition Po licy 
2.12.   As mentioned by the Chair earlier, after 24 years of being advocated, the Philippine 
Competition Act was signed in July 2015 and created the Philippine Competition Commission 
(PCC). The PCC is an independent, quasi -judicial body that aims to promote a nd maintain market 
competition and economic efficiency by regulating anti -competitive behaviour.  
Liberalization of key sectors (transportation, banking, public utilities, domestic 
regulations, among others)  
2.13.   We have also liberalized key sectors. For instan ce, to help ensure continued competition and 
to lower business transaction costs in the maritime sector, a provision of the 1957 Tariff and 
Customs Code dealing with Cabotage Principle was amended in 2015 through the Foreign Ships 
Co-Loading Act. The law l ifts longstanding cabotage restrictions imposed on foreign operators by 
now allowing foreign vessels to transport and co -load foreign cargoes for domestic transhipment.   
2.14.   Also, the full entry of foreign banks was allowed in 2013 through Republic Act 10641 which 
amended provisions of a 1994 law on foreign bank operations. This further opened up the banking 
sector to offshore players and has since seen the entry of banks from  Japan, South Korea, Chinese 
Taipei and Singapore.  
Intellectual Property Rights  
2.15.   Amendments to the Intellectual Property (IP) Code also took effect in March 2013 which 
primarily created the Bureau of Copyrights within the Intellectual Property Office of the  Philippines. 
The amendments also strengthened the institution's enforcement powers with regard to visits to 
businesses engaging in IP violations and introduced a provision on a secondary liability for persons 
who benefit from copyright infringements. The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016, as 
mentioned earlier, also strengthened IPR protection with the prohibition of importation or 
exportation of infringing goods.  
On Tariff Duties  
2.16.   Equally important, during the review period, we have also issued E xecutive Orders that 
lowered MFN duties on information technology -related products, on goods that lead to positive 
impact on the environment, and on capital equipment.  
2.17.   Moreover, then anticipating expiry of the Philippines' WTO Waiver on the Special Treatm ent 
for Rice (in June 2017), the President issued Executive Order No. 23 in April 2017 to extend the 
reduced MFN rates on rice and other agricultural products for another three years. These rates will 
apply until 30 June 2020 or until such time that the la w amending certain provisions of our WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  Republic Act No. 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act is passed, whichever comes first. The 
passage of this bill amending agricultural tariffs is a priority of the Philippines.  
On Ease of Doing Business  
2.18.   These pol icy reforms are complemented by strong efforts to eliminate laws that place a 
heavy regulatory burden on businesses and to cut red tape through the "Project Repeal," which 
was launched in March 2016 and the first Repeal Day held in June 2016. Through the c ollaboration 
of 88 government agencies, an aggregate of 4,837 policy issuances were reviewed with a view to 
repealing outdated rules and therefore reducing the cost of business.  
Next Steps  
2.19.   Now moving forward, to deepen policy reform and accelerate its pac e, let me share parallel 
initiatives being pursued at the executive and administrative level, at the legislative front, and by 
initiating the review process for changing the Constitution.  
2.20.   At the executive level, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Memorandum  Order No. 16 in 
November 2017 directing government agencies to take immediate steps to lift or ease existing 
restrictions on foreign participation in eight areas or activities, mainly on the following:  
1. Private recruitment, whether for local or overseas e mployment;  
2. Practice of particular professions;  
3. Contracts for the construction and repair of locally -funded public works;  
4. Public services, except activities and systems that are recognized as public utilities;  
5. Culture, production, milling, processing, and trading except retailing, of rice and corn and 
acquiring by barter, purchase or otherwise, rice and corn and its by -products;  
6. Teaching at higher education levels;  
7. Retail trade enterprises; and  
8. Domestic market enterprises.  
2.21.   At the Legislative front, our Cong ress has placed utmost priority in amending 
Commonwealth Act No. 146 otherwise known as the Public Service Act which is a law which was 
enacted in 1936 - or more than 80 years ago. This is very important as it can open critical areas of 
Public Utilities (c overing electricity, water, transportation, and communication to up to 100% 
foreign ownership).   
2.22.   In January of this year, the President completed the appointments to the Constitutional 
Review Commission which is now deliberating on, among others, lifting remaining restrictions on 
participation of foreign investors in the economy.  
Post-TPR Updates  
2.23.   Lastly, let me also take this opportunity to provide some more recent updates which took 
place after the submission of the Government and Secretariat reports.  
2.24.   Firstly, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Act was signed into law on 
9 December 2017. This is the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Programme under 
the current Administration. The Act will provide the needed resource boost  to support President 
Duterte's "Build, Build, Build" programme of infrastructure spending as well as the social 
programmes which will contribute to reducing supply bottlenecks and alleviating poverty. The 
TRAIN Act reduces personal income taxes for those earning below PHP 2 million. It also provides a 
simpler system for computing donor and estate taxes.  
2.25.   Secondly, the Philippine Senate ratified the Philippines -European Free Trade Association 
Free Trade Agreement on 5 March 2018. The instrument of notificat ion was deposited on 16 March 
at the Norwegian Embassy in Manila, paving the way for its entry into force in three months.  
2.26.   I am also pleased to report that in January of this year, the Philippine Senate gave its 
concurrence to the ratification of the Phil ippines -EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  provides for the general framework of cooperation in a comprehensive range of areas, including on 
economic issues.  
2.27.   Members may note that the Philippines adopted a more deliberate approach towards FTAs in 
our bilateral and regional engagements. Last year, the Philippines was the Chair of the ASEAN 
where we kept the course towards openness, reforms, growth, economic security and inclusive 
trade. In ASEAN, we are a party to its FTA agreements with China, K orea, Australia -New Zealand, 
Japan and India. Last year we concluded the ASEAN -Hong Kong FTA negotiations. Pending its 
ratification by all parties, this will be notified to the WTO. We continue to be engaged with our 
partners to conclude the negotiations o f the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The 
Philippines has also ongoing discussions with Japan for the General Review of the Philippines -Japan 
Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).  
2.28.   Our bilateral engagements and regional engagements complemen t the multilateral track 
and serve as building blocks to multilateral disciplines and objectives.  
2.29.   As a founding member of the Asia -Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 1989 and as its 
Chair in 2015, we made contributions to APEC's work to promote trade an d investment 
liberalization in the Asia -Pacific region through an agenda on inclusive growth. On MSMEs, we put 
forward the Boracay Action Agenda to Globalize MSMEs and through it, planted the seeds for the 
discussions in the WTO. As a Member of the WTO Fri ends of MSMEs, we will continue to make 
contributions for a development -centered MSME agenda in the WTO.  
2.30.   During the review period, we have thus hosted the APEC and Chaired the ASEAN — and 
have taken advantage of both instances to advocate for Inclusive Glo balization.  
The WTO and the Multilateral Trading System  
2.31.   On the WTO, the entry into force of the TFA sends a positive signal to the world. However, 
we need to move forward on the unfinished business of the development agenda. We attach great 
importance to our work to lower agricultural subsidies and eliminate agricultural export subsidies. 
Through continued technical engagement, the Philippines remains hopeful that solutions can be 
found for an accessible, simple and effective price and volume -based Special  Safeguard 
Mechanism which will ensure food and livelihood security and rural development that will not 
interfere with growth in trade. We also attach equal importance on the removal of non -tariff 
barriers to ensure that real market access is achieved.  
2.32.   The Philippines is committed to contribute and to make progress wherever possible based 
on common efforts. The Philippines will join other Members in engaging constructively in all areas 
of WTO, especially in addressing the challenges facing the WTO and in p roving its relevance today 
and in the future.  
2.33.   The Philippines will continue to play its part in supporting the multilateral trading system 
and in promoting open economies. We believe that an effectively functioning WTO is the best way 
to achieve Inclusive Globalization, where no one is left behind.  
2.34.   Thank you.  
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  3  STATEMENT BY THE DIS CUSSANT  
3.1.  I am pleased to be here today as the discussant for the 5th Trade Policy review of the 
Philippines.  
3.2.  I would like to welcome the delegation from Manila, led by Undersecretary Rodolfo, together 
with representatives from the departments of Trade and Industry, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Labour 
and Employment, and Agriculture; the Board of Investments; the Food and Drug Administration; 
the National Food Authority; the  Government Procurement Policy Board; and the Intellectual 
Property Office. I appreciate the delegation travelling and working during the holy week and a 
holiday period for the Philippines.  
3.3.  Let me begin by thanking the Secretariat and the Government of the  Philippines for the two 
reports on which we will base our review over the next two days. A tremendous amount of work 
goes into these documents and deserves acknowledgement. I would also like to thank those 
Members that have submitted written questions and  the Philippines for their responses – the 
question and answer process is a crucial component of any TPR and ensures a robust review. I 
took note that the Philippines once again has made use of the alternative timelines , thus further 
enhancing the transpar ency of this process.  
3.4.  The Philippines is an active participant  at the WTO, in our regular committee work and 
ongoing negotiations, including agriculture. The Philippines has contributed to WTO governance as 
a Chairperson for various committees (for exampl e, as the Chair of the Preparatory Committee on 
Trade Facilitation for several years following the conclusion of the TFA) and by recently 
coordinating ASEAN's group positions in their capacity as Chair in 2017. Reflecting the importance 
of MSMEs to their e conomy, the Philippines supported the Joint Ministerial Statement Declaration 
on the Establishment of a WTO Informal Work Programme for MSMEs and has taken a leading role 
in discussions over the last year. Further supporting the development of more inclusi ve trade 
policies and economic growth, the Philippines has also signed the Joint Declaration on Trade and 
Women's Economic Empowerment.  
3.5.  In reviewing the Secretariat and Government reports, it is immediately apparent that the 
Philippines has registered impr essive growth and has implemented a number of reforms since their 
TPR in 2012, not only with respect to their trade and investment policies, but also in terms of the 
country's broader socioeconomic governance. In my statement, I would like to highlight a f ew 
areas for Members: (1) the Philippines strong macroeconomic performance; (2) changes in their 
investment and trade policies; and (3) challenges and areas for further reform.  
3.6.  Since the last review, the Philippines has recorded impressive macroeconomic re sults: an 
average annual GDP growth  of over 6%, combined with a reduction in its poverty rate  (from 
25.2% in 2012 to 21.6% in 2015) and in unemployment  (only 5.4% in 2016) – illustrating a 
commitment to inclusive growth. The Philippines has experienced a s trong inflow of foreign direct 
investment  (FDI), which grew from US$1.9 billion in 2011 to US$7.9 billion in 2016. 
Merchandise trade  increases were driven primarily by imports, while services  grew 
substantially, with exports registering an increase of 66% over five years. According to a recent 
World Bank report, the Philippines is projected to continue to be the fastest -growing economy in 
ASEAN.1  
3.7.  Members will be interested in how the current administration's Zero to Ten -Point 
Socioeconomic Agenda will supp ort these positive trends, particularly in areas affecting the 
business climate, such as the recently -approved " Tax Reform  for Acceleration and Inclusion" 
(TRAIN) and the "Build, Build, Build" campaign aimed at accelerating investment in 
infrastructure . As fiscal reform and infrastructure were both identified in the Philippines' last TPR 
as areas for improvement, it is positive to see the Philippines' focus on these issues and I look 
forward to seeing the long -term results of these efforts.  
3.8.  Turning to inve stment and trade policies, as noted earlier, the Philippines experienced rapid 
growth in foreign direct investment  during the review period. It is notable that the Philippines 
has taken some steps to liberalize foreign direct investment. Nonetheless, as re flected in the 
                                                
1 Global Economic Prospects, January 2018: Broad -Based Upturn, but for How Long? Advance edition. 
Washington, DC: World Bank. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO . WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  advanced written questions, investment openness remains a concern. Further liberalization, while 
a significant challenge due to constitutional limitations, would help to raise productivity and allow 
the Philippines to compete more successful ly. While the Philippines has improved their business 
regulations as captured by the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business score in absolute terms, they 
moved down the overall rankings in 2018 (from 99 to 113). There is room for improvement for the 
Philippin es to streamline procedures and enhancing transparency.  
3.9.  Members will be keen to learn how the Philippines is considering addressing these challenges, 
including how the Zero to 10 -point Socioeconomic Agenda intends to attract investment, as 
suggested, by i ncreasing competitiveness and ease of doing business and relaxing restrictions on 
foreign ownership.2  
3.10.   During the review period, the Philippines also brought in new legislation in a number of 
trade -related areas, including:  
1. The Food Safety Act (2013): the first comprehensive food safety law in the Philippines;  
2. The Competition Act (2015): the country's first competition act; and  
3. The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (2016) which modernizes customs rules, 
expedites customs  procedures, reduces opportunities for corruption, and improves customs 
service delivery, as well as consolidates the regulatory framework for trade contingency 
measures.  
3.11.   In addition, other notable changes include the liberalization of the banking sector, 
permitting international relays in maritime transport, and clarifications to the government 
procurement regime.  
3.12.   While the Philippines has started to address key issues raised during its last TPR, there 
remains room for further improvements. For example, w ith respect to trade in goods, the 
Philippines could benefit from an elimination of a high proportion of nuisance tariffs  (14.9% of 
tariff lines) and of tariffs under 5% (41.9% of tariff lines), that create administrative burdens and 
do not provide effecti ve protection for domestic industry. The Philippines low level of binding 
(63.7%) also creates uncertainty for exporters.  
3.13.   Members raised concerns with respect to import licensing , pre-shipment clearance , and 
the use of reference prices , which are worth ex ploring further, in order to improve the facilitation 
of trade into the Philippines.  
3.14.   Despite the Food Safety Act and the Philippines' numerous notifications to the SPS 
Committee, importers also continue to face challenges regarding the complexity of the SPS 
regime . In particular, Members raised questions with respect to imported meat products.  
3.15.   Finally, as in the previous review, agricultural reform  continues to be a challenge – 
economically and socially. While contributing 10% of GDP, the agriculture sect or accounts for 
nearly 24% of employment and, despite land reform, the size of farms has decreased. Members 
will continue to be interested in Philippines' plans to address inefficiencies, as well as efforts to 
reduce the relatively high level of support, i mprove on their notification record, and on steps taken 
towards the tariffication of rice. As noted in a recent OECD report on Agriculture Policies in the 
Philippines, "A reformed policy environment, consistent with measures included in the most recent 
Philippine Development Plan 2017 -2022, would help ensure the sector contributes to improved 
food security and poverty reduction. Restructuring government support away from self -sufficiency 
targets, in particular for rice production, towards measures that stre ngthen productivity and 
overall farm profitability on a sustainable basis will be critical."3 
3.16.   In conclusion, I would like to once again commend the Philippines for their strong 
performance over the review period and encourage building on the progress made,  through a 
continued sound reform agenda, good governance, and stable political environment, as these will 
be instrumental in ensuring the Philippines' long -term growth prospects. The Philippines' continued 
                                                
2 http://www.doh.gov.ph/node/6750 . 
3 http://www.oecd.org/countries/philippines /further -agricultural -reforms -in-the-philippines -would -help-
reduce -poverty -and-improve -food-security.htm . WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  and active participation in rules -based internati onal institutions, including the WTO, is, of course, a 
key part of this.  
3.17.   I wish the Philippines a successful review and I look forward to listening Members' 
statements.  
3.18.   Thank you. 
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  4  STATEMENTS BY MEMBER S 
JAPAN  
4.1.  Needless to say, Japan and the Philippines have been important partners for years, both 
economically and politically. Japan will make continuous efforts to maintain and further develop 
the strong ties between us.  
4.2.  According to the Secretariat report, the Philippine economy has grown at an average an nual 
rate of about 6% since its last Trade Policy Review in 2012. Moreover, the Philippines has strongly 
increased infrastructure spending since 2013 with a view to improving the quality of infrastructure 
that has been constraining private investment and j ob creation. The country has also introduced 
its "Zero -To-Ten-Point Socioeconomic Agenda," which aims to increase public infrastructure 
spending to at least 5 % of GDP. Japan expects the Philippines will continue its efforts to promote 
future economic grow th. 
4.3.  Now, let me turn to the WTO issues. Japan appreciates the Philippines' active participation in 
the WTO negotiations. We note that the Philippines provided over 300 notifications to the WTO 
during the review period, and has been actively involved in the  WTO dispute settlement cases, 
even as a third party. Moreover, the Philippines is one of the members of the ITA Expansion 
Agreement and accepted the WTO Trade Facilitation agreement in 2016. The country also 
submitted its category A notifications in 2014,  followed by category B and C notifications in 
January of this year.  
4.4.  Japan positively evaluates the Philippines for efforts such as these to contribute to higher 
trade liberalization and strengthen the multilateral trading system.  
4.5.  With regard to the RTA, t he Philippines has joined the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, the 
ASEAN Framework Agreement on Service and the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement 
with a view to contributing to the ASEAN Community. In addition, the Philippines, as a member of 
ASEAN, has joined the FTAs with Australia and NZ, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and 
Hong Kong, China and is also taking part in the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive 
Economic Partnership (RCEP). Japan commends the Philippines' efforts to li beralize its international 
trade and hopes that these RTAs will complement and strengthen the multilateral trading system.  
4.6.  In spite of these positive elements, we believe that there is still room for improvement in the 
Philippines' trade policies.  
4.7.  Our first concern is about the Common Carrier's Tax that has been imposed on international 
carriers.  
4.8.  The Philippine Government imposes a 3% Common Carrier's Tax (CCT) on the gross receipts 
generated from freight revenues for the transport of cargoes to another  country by an 
international carrier. However, although the local carriers' freight revenue generated from 
outbound services is subject to VAT instead of CCT, VAT is actually stipulated as zero -rated. 
Hence, the CCT appears to constitute a discriminatory f inancial burden for foreign carriers when 
compared with the taxation regime in place for local carriers. Therefore, Japan encourages the 
Philippines to reconsider this taxation regime.  
4.9.  With regard to retail liberalization, the transfer capital requirement for retail businesses with 
one hundred percent foreign capital must be at least 2.5 million dollars and they are also required 
to have 830,000 dollars or more in capital per store. Although the equivalent requirement for other 
businesses is a minimum of 20 0,000 dollars in capital per store, the retail industry is severely 
regulated. Therefore, Japan requests that the Philippines reduce the requirements for retail 
businesses to make them equivalent to those imposed on other businesses.  
4.10.   In addition to that, t he Philippines has also introduced a requirement that parent companies 
must have net assets of at least 200 million dollars as well as a requirement that companies that 
have more than 80% foreign capital ratio must publicly list 30% of shares within eight years after 
commencement of business. Japan requests that the Philippines remove these requirements to 
promote further liberalization of the retail trade business.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.11.   In conclusion, Japan believes the Philippines can further enhance its significant role in th e 
world economy though improvement of its trade and investment environment, including in the 
areas that we have indicated today.  
4.12.   Japan looks forward to continued close cooperation between our two countries and wishes 
the Philippines a successful and produc tive TPR.  
CANADA  
4.13.   We commend the Philippines for its strongest economic performance since the 1980's. The 
Philippines' average growth rate of 6.6% has been the highest in Southeast Asia over the last five 
years. Moreover, as the Secretariat report points ou t, it has proven to be more resilient to external 
shocks than other emerging market economies. The Philippines seems poised to successfully 
implement its latest government reform programs and to sustain growth moving forward.  
4.14.   With growth, however, come cer tain challenges. Infrastructure gaps continue to exert 
significant downward pressure on the Philippines; otherwise we have seen strong growth in a 
number of ways. Traffic congestion in major urban centers has daily productivity costs on the 
Philippine econ omy. The current distribution of key infrastructure assets is limiting the ability of 
local and national governments to promote a more equal distribution of growth across the country, 
with repercussions on the level of employment and social development. In consistencies in tourism 
infrastructure persist, though improvements in this area and other measures have helped to 
sustain growth in this sector. In terms of attracting FDI, the infrastructure gap; particularly in the 
transportation sector, is beginning t o impair the Philippines ability to attract investment in certain 
sectors.  
4.15.   However, work undertaken in this area combined with the strong commitment by the 
government to address the infrastructure gap is heartening. We encourage the Philippines to 
continu e its efforts to develop and deliver robust and strategic investments in infrastructure to the 
benefit of its entire economy.  
4.16.    Canada also notes the Philippines strong commitment to food safety on behalf of 
consumers. During the period under review we note  that of the over 300 notifications the 
Philippines provided to the WTO more than 200 were SPS notifications. While Canada is pleased to 
see the Philippines leveraging the processes of the WTO, we encourage the Philippines, when 
implementing new procedures , to submit notifications in a timely manner to ensure transparency 
and predictability for importers, consumers and exporters alike. We thank the Philippines for its 
ongoing dedication to ensuring the implementation of science -based policies in accordance with 
international standards.  
4.17.   Returning to the business environment, we note the continued strong progress made by the 
Philippines. The Philippines ranks 99th (out of 199 countries) in the World Bank's ease of doing 
business indicator for 2017 (up from 134 th place in 2012). It has made, amongst others, anti -
corruption reforms in its customs services by limiting person -to-person contacts and imposing 
heavy penalties on corrupt officials. The country's ranking in Transparency International's 
Corruption Percep tion Index has improved from 135th in 2012 to 101st place in 2016 (out of 
176 countries). We commend these measures. However, we note that the number and complexity 
of permits and licenses required in certain sectors of the economy can impair the efforts o f 
entrepreneurs and new entrants to the economy. We also note the continued concern of some 
companies doing business in the Philippines about informal payments and we therefore welcome 
the Philippines' sustained efforts and increased determination.  
4.18.   Canada also recognizes Philippines efforts to champion WTO initiatives aimed at helping 
micro, small and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs) integrate into international trade and we look 
forward to collaborating with Philippines on delivering progressive and inclus ive results.  
4.19.   Finally, Canada has taken note of the Philippines recent notification of Category B and C 
commitments, including definitive dates, and congratulates the Philippines for implementing the 
vast majority of the TFA upon entry into force. We encour age the Philippines to provide WTO 
Members with its outstanding transparency notifications as soon as possible.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.20.   We have submitted written questions that reflect some of the concerns raised today, and 
would like to thank the Philippines' for submitting resp onses. We will examine them more closely 
and will submit follow up questions. We look forward to a constructive exchange of views on all 
aspects of the Philippines' trade policy today and Wednesday. As a key mechanism for the WTO to 
enhance transparency am ong members' trade policy, we would like to thank the Philippines for 
their productive engagement in this Trade Policy Review. We positively note the Philippines use of 
the alternative timelines in its Trade Policy Review. This contributes to enhancing tra nsparency and 
the overall usefulness of the trade policy review process and we encourage all Members to adopt 
this practice. We look forward to further engaging with the Philippines as part of our FTA process 
with ASEAN.  
PERÚ  
4.21.   El Perú saluda los importantes  progresos realizados por Filipinas en su desarrollo económico 
durante el período bajo examen. Entre ellos, cabe destacar el crecimiento constante y acelerado, 
la estabilidad macroeconómica, la diversificación de la producción, la fuerte inversión pública en 
materia de infraestructura, el establecimiento de una autoridad en materia de competencia, la 
adopción de un programa nacional de energías renovables, etc. Hacemos votos por que estos 
éxitos económicos se traduzcan en mayor crecimiento en favor de toda la población de Filipinas.  
4.22.   En lo que se refiere a la relación comercial bilateral, ésta  atraviesa por un buen nivel y 
cuenta con una prometedora perspectiva. El monto total del intercambio comercial ha atravesado 
por vez primera los 200 millones de dólar es americanos en 2016, y registra crecimiento tendencial 
desde hace más de 5 años. Confiamos en que la entrada en vigor del Acuerdo Integral y 
Progresivo para la Asociación Transpacífica (CP -TPP, por sus siglas en inglés) en el futuro próximo, 
así como nue stra participación conjunta en APEC y los esfuerzos de cooperación entre la Alianza 
del Pacífico y la ASEAN, acrecentarán el desarrollo de nuestro comercio bilateral.  
4.23.   La delegación peruana ha observado en los informes el uso de ciertas restricciones a la 
inversión extranjera, la falta de consolidación de una alta proporción de las líneas arancelarias y la 
expiración reciente de la exención de Filipinas para las restricciones cuantitativas de algunos 
productos, que debería acarrear la pronta arancelización de los derechos de entrada de dichos 
productos. De igual manera, hemos realizado algunas preguntas sobre el sistema de adquisición 
pública, en particular a lo que concierne al régimen que aplica para las Empresas Comerciantes del 
Estado. (Agradecemos por l as repuestas brindadas/ Quedamos a la espera de las respuestas), las 
que serán analizadas con detenimiento.  
4.24.   Antes de concluir, la delegación peruana reitera a Filipinas sus deseos de continuidad en su 
desarrollo económico, y asimismo le deseamos un exitoso  quinto examen de sus políticas 
comerciales.  
CHILE  
4.25.   De acuerdo a los informes presentados para esta ocasión, cabe destacar que desde el último 
examen de las políticas comerciales de Filipinas, realizado en 2012, la economía del país ha 
crecido a una tasa me dia anual del 6% aproximadamente, lo que le permitido reducir en cerca del 
5% su tasa de pobreza durante los últimos años. Asimismo, se destaca el Plan de Desarrollo de 
Filipinas para 2017 -2022, que se centra en dotar de mayor competitividad a la economía a través 
de buenas prácticas de reglamentación, una política de competencia sólida y mercados de servicios 
abiertos.  
4.26.   Del mismo modo, resulta interesante de mencionar que durante el período objeto de 
examen, la relación entre la deuda pública total y el PI B disminuyó del 41%, en 2012, al 35% en 
2016 gracias a la aplicación, por parte del Gobierno filipino, de una política fiscal conservadora con 
el objetivo de reforzar la resiliencia y disponer así de un creciente margen de maniobra fiscal.  
4.27.   Otro aspecto im portante de resaltar es que para situarse en una senda de mayor 
crecimiento, el Gobierno filipino ha aumentado considerablemente el gasto en infraestructura: del 
2,7% del PIB en 2013 al 5% en 2016, destinando principalmente ese gasto a la conectividad 
interinsular, a las conexiones por carretera y a medidas para abordar problemas de congestión del 
tráfico en la región metropolitana de Manila y en otras zonas urbanas. Esto resulta de gran interés WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  e importancia considerando que sus esfuerzos por atraer mayore s volúmenes de Inversión 
Extranjera Directa se han visto, precisamente, obstaculizados por factores como los problemas de 
infraestructura.  
4.28.   Junto a lo anterior, estimamos favorable el impulso dado a la Ley de Aranceles y 
Modernización de las Aduanas de 2016 , que – junto con consolidar su marco reglamentario de 
medidas comerciales especiales - tiene por objeto modernizar las normas aduaneras, agilizar los 
procedimientos aduaneros, reducir las posibilidades de que se produzcan casos de corrupción y 
mejorar la prestación de servicios de aduanas.  
4.29.   Destacamos, asimismo, que Filipinas haya ratificado el Acuerdo sobre Facilitación del 
Comercio de la OMC el 27 de octubre de 2016, notificando más del 90% de sus compromisos en 
categoría A.  
4.30.   Los vínculos entre Chile y F ilipinas se establecieron en julio de 1946, siendo la relación 
diplomática más antigua de Chile con un país ASEAN. Son, por lo tanto, más de 70 años de 
intercambios bilaterales de todo tipo y esperamos que sean muchos más intensos en el futuro.  
4.31.   La vinculación comercial de Chile con Filipinas está en una buena medida definida por el rol 
que juega ASEAN en la región Asia -Pacífico. Los diez países miembros de esta organización 
constituyen la quinta economía mundial y se han transformado en el tercer me rcado de 
importancia para Chile. De tal manera, Chile reconoce el papel estratégico que esta Organización 
tiene en el comercio global y, por lo mismo, resulta pertinente señalar que Chile dio un importante 
paso en sus relaciones con Asia, en general, y con  Filipinas, en particular, al suscribir la adhesión 
al Tratado de Amistad y Cooperación con la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático en el 
2016.  
4.32.   La adhesión al Tratado de Amistad y Cooperación con ASEAN consolida, por lo tanto, 
décadas de acercamient o con cada uno de sus Estados miembros, así como con la Asociación en 
su conjunto.  
4.33.   Junto a lo anterior, Chile participa y comparte visiones con Filipinas en otros importantes 
acuerdos regionales como son APEC y FOCALAE.  
4.34.   En el ámbito de la OMC, cabe señala r que con Filipinas compartimos también visiones 
comunes en torno a la liberalización agrícola a través del Grupo Cairns, el G -20 agrícola y, por otra 
parte, también somos parte del Grupo Informal de Amigos de las MIPYMEs.  
4.35.   Existe, por lo tanto, un amplio e spacio para desarrollar actividades de cooperación bilateral 
en áreas tales como políticas públicas, desastres naturales, minería, cultivos agrícolas y medio 
ambiente.  
4.36.   Respecto del intercambio comercial total entre Chile y Filipinas, desde 2012 a la fecha , éste 
ha presentado resultados irregulares y con tendencia decreciente. Tal situación, junto con otras 
consideraciones, nos ha llevado a manifestar a las autoridades filipinas nuestro interés por 
suscribir en un futuro próximo un TLC entre ambos países. P ara ello, aprovechamos esta ocasión 
para reiterar nuestro interés para acordar con el Gobierno de Filipinas los términos de referencia y 
lanzar prontamente las negociaciones para la suscripción de ese TLC.  
4.37.   Por otra parte, y con miras a poder mejorar los ni veles actuales de intercambio comercial, 
es del interés de Chile poder resolver los temas regulatorios que impiden la exportación de 
productos pecuarios chilenos a Filipinas.  
4.38.   En este sentido, no podemos dejar de mencionar que nos preocupan las prescripcio nes 
sanitarias y fitosanitarias impuestas para la importación de alimentos que, entre otras cosas, 
contemplan que inspectores de Filipinas evalúen – en los países de origen - que los 
establecimientos faenadores cumplan con su normativa sanitaria. En este s entido, quisiéramos 
reiterar nuestro interés y mejor disposición para poder conseguir el reconocimiento y la 
acreditación respectiva, requeridos por parte de la Oficina de Industria Animal (BAI, por sus siglas 
en inglés).  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.39.   Para concluir, quisiéramos subray ar lo señalado en el informe de la Secretaría en cuanto a 
que Filipinas siguen siendo firmes defensores de un sistema multilateral de comercio basado en 
normas y, en tiempos difíciles para la economía mundial, propugnan una mayor liberalización del 
comerci o. A nuestro juicio, estos son hoy principios fundamentales y por ello los destacamos.  
4.40.   Para este quinto Examen, Chile formuló 26 preguntas cuyas respuestas agradecemos. 
Deseamos a Filipinas una exitosa revisión de su política comercial en este examen.   
EL SALVADOR  
4.41.   Para El Salvador es un honor participar en este ejercicio de transparencia de un Miembro 
con quien compartimos importantes lazos de amistad e intereses comunes en el marco 
multilateral.  
4.42.   En el contexto del presente examen, se desprende el crecimi ento de la economía filipina a 
una tasa media anual de 6%, desde el ejercicio anterior realizado en el 2012. Entre los principales 
motores de crecimiento se destaca el consumo y las inversiones. Cabe también resaltar los 
esfuerzos realizados por Filipinas para reducir sus niveles de pobreza, cuya tasa disminuyó del 
25,2% en 2012 al 21,6% en 2015.  
4.43.   Al igual que El Salvador, el sector de los servicios en Filipinas es el que más contribuye al 
Producto Interno Bruto y en su caso, este también es el sector de exp ortación que crece a mayor 
ritmo. Durante el período objeto de examen, la participación de los servicios financieros se 
mantuvo en torno al 10% del PIB y el sector turístico el cual es fundamental para el desarrollo 
social y económico del país, representó el 8,6% del PIB y un 12,8% del empleo.  
4.44.   Es importante mencionar los avances logrados por Filipinas durante el período bajo examen 
sobre el tema de competencia, ya que en el año 2015 se aprobó su primera Ley en la materia y en 
el año 2016 estableció su auto ridad de Competencia. Por otra parte, en el 2016 entró en vigor una 
nueva legislación sobre contratación pública, a pesar que el requisito de nacionalidad de los 
licitadores sigue restringiendo la participación de entidades de propiedad extranjera en la 
contratación pública.  
4.45.   En el año 2014, el comercio bilateral entre ambos países alcanzó un total de 14 millones de 
dólares, el más alto en todo el período bajo examen. Tal como se informa en el documento 
elaborado por la Secretaría, la maquinaria es la princ ipal categoría de exportaciones de mercancías 
de Filipinas. Por otra parte, desde el año 2012, las exportaciones de productos electrónicos y 
eléctricos registraron un aumento significativo representando el 25,6% de las exportaciones 
totales. Por ello no es  de extrañarse que esta categoría representa el principal producto de 
exportación desde Filipinas hacia El Salvador.   
4.46.   En el contexto multilateral, cabe resaltar la destacada participación de Filipinas en los 
trabajos ordinarios y de negociación que se lle van a cabo en la OMC, incluyendo en materia de 
agricultura. El Salvador y Filipinas como países en desarrollo, comparten intereses conjuntos en 
diversas áreas del trabajo multilateral, incluyendo a través de su activa participación en la 
iniciativa de MIPY MEs, lanzada en la Conferencia Ministerial de Buenos Aires, por un importante 
Grupo de Miembros. Ambas delegaciones impulsan una mayor inserción de las MIPYMEs en el 
comercio mundial con especial enfoque en el área de asistencia técnica y desarrollo.  
4.47.   En lo que respecta a sus compromisos de eliminación de las restricciones cuantitativas que 
Filipinas mantiene en el sector del arroz, agradecemos a esta delegación por la información 
detallada que han proporcionado sobre los esfuerzos y avances realizados para  cumplir con la 
arancelización de dichas medidas y lo instamos a cumplir a la brevedad, los compromisos 
asumidos al respecto en el marco multilateral.   
4.48.   Agradecemos a Filipinas por las respuestas brindadas a las preguntas formuladas por 
nuestra delegación,  las cuales estaremos enviando a nuestra capital oportunamente para su 
análisis.  
4.49.   No me queda desear más que los mejores éxitos a Filipinas en este ejercicio de política 
comercial.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  ARGENTINA  
4.50.   La Argentina observa con beneplácito que, desde el último examen de las políticas 
comerciales de Filipinas realizado en 2012, la economía ha crecido a una tasa media anual del 6 % 
aproximadamente. Igualmente destacable resulta de reducción de la tasa de pobreza y el 
significativo aumento de las exportaciones de producto s electrónicos y eléctricos así como el 
rápido crecimiento de las exportaciones de servicios y remesas.  
4.51.   Relacionado con su buen desempeño económico, confiamos en que el Plan de Desarrollo de 
Filipinas 2017 -2022 logre su objetivo de mejorar la competitividad de la economía a través de 
mercados de servicios abiertos, buenas prácticas de reglamentación y políticas e instituciones 
sólidas en materia de competencia.  
4.52.   Deseamos resaltar que, durante el período objeto de examen, Filipinas registró una f uerte 
entrada de Inversión Extranjera Directa (IED). Al respecto, y sin perjuicio de que el Gobierno 
filipino mantiene restricciones a la inversión extranjera en ciertos sectores como agricultura, 
pesca, servicios de telecomunicaciones y servicios públicos , valoramos las flexibilidades adoptadas 
en el ámbito de los servicios profesionales y bancarios.  
4.53.   La Argentina ve con buenos ojos la sanción de la Ley de Aranceles y Modernización de las 
Aduanas de 2016, la cual confiamos contribuirá a modernizar las norma s aduaneras, agilizar los 
procedimientos aduaneros, reducir las posibilidades de que se produzcan casos de corrupción y 
mejorar la prestación de servicios de aduanas.  
4.54.   Nos complace, asimismo, que Filipinas sea parte del amplio porcentaje de Miembros que a 
la fecha han ratificado el Acuerdo sobre Facilitación del Comercio (AFC). De igual manera, 
destacamos que Filipinas haya notificado la inclusión de prácticamente la totalidad de las 
disposiciones del AFC como compromisos de categoría A.  
4.55.   La Argentina observa  con gran interés el compromiso activo con el sistema multilateral de 
comercio por parte de Filipinas, que concede al menos el trato de Nación Más Favorecida (NMF) a 
todos los Miembros de la OMC. Es notable que Filipinas ha suscrito acuerdos comerciales 
preferenciales con quince interlocutores, ha firmado un acuerdo con los miembros de la Asociación 
Europea de Libre Comercio (AELC -EFTA) y se encuentra negociando, al igual que los países del 
Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR) del cual Argentina forma parte, un  acuerdo de libre 
comercio con la Unión Europea.  
4.56.   La Argentina sigue con atención el sistema de administración de contingentes arancelarios. 
Asimismo, en el marco de este examen de política comercial hemos presentado preguntas 
vinculadas con el régimen de inversión extranjera, con el fomento de las micro y pequeñas 
empresas y con el régimen de acreditación de importaciones de productos alimenticios. 
Agradecemos las respuestas proporcionadas, las cuales serán debidamente consideradas por 
nuestras autoridades.  
4.57.   Finalizando, y al tiempo de reiterar nuestro rec onocimiento por esta nueva oportunidad de 
intercambiar elementos de juicio y consideraciones sobre las políticas y prácticas comerciales de 
Filipinas, permítanos señalar, una vez más, la relevancia de este ejercicio de transparencia en 
todos sus aspectos y  desear a las autoridades filipinas la exitosa conclusión del presente examen.  
AUSTRALIA  
4.58.   Australia and the Philippines have enjoyed a strong and broad -based bilateral relationship 
over 70 years, based on our robust people -to-people links and close cooperat ion on a wide range 
of trade and economic interests.  
4.59.   Australia welcomes the Philippines' impressive economic growth, one of the fastest in Asia, 
only surpassed by China and Viet Nam. We note the positive influence of sustained structural 
reform on growth, and encourage the Philippines to continue with its reform agenda. We welcome 
the Philippines' progress on competition law and policy, including the establishment of the 
Philippine Competition Commission and encourage the Philippines to continue strengtheni ng its 
competition architecture.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.60.   Australia welcomes improvements in the Philippines' access for certain foreign professional 
service providers and efforts to reduce the foreign investment negative list – we encourage the 
Philippines to continue removing re maining restrictions. Australia is concerned by continued 
restrictions preventing foreign suppliers from accessing the Philippines' government procurement 
market, and we look forward to improvements in this area.  
4.61.   Australia appreciates the Philippine Govern ment's efforts to amend its legislation to remove 
quantitative restrictions on its imports of rice. Australia encourages the Philippines to reduce its 
high tariffs, particularly on agricultural products such as rice, maze and sugar. This would allow 
the Ph ilippines to greater integrate into regional and global supply chains.  
4.62.   Australia congratulates the Philippines on its role as 2017 Chair of ASEAN and its work to 
promote regional economic integration. Australia is pleased to work with the Philippines towar ds 
this goal, including through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations 
and through our existing ASEAN -Australia -New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.  
4.63.   Australia and the Philippines are also working within the WTO to advance trade 
liberalization. Australia congratulates the Philippines on the ratification of the WTO Trade 
Facilitation Agreement on 27 October 2016. As trading nations, both Australia and Philippines 
benefit from simplification and harmonization of international trade pr ocedures to assist the 
movement of goods.  
4.64.   We are looking forward to working with the Philippines as part of the WTO Informal Working 
Group on Micro, Small and Medium -Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) seeking to promote the 
participation of MSMEs in international t rade, including through establishing a formal work 
programme for MSMEs at MC12.  
4.65.   Noting the importance of transparency and notification obligations to the functioning of the 
WTO system, Australia encourages the Philippines to complete its outstanding WTO no tifications, 
including domestic support notifications and its 2016 export subsidy notification.  
4.66.   For this review, Australia has submitted a number of written questions focusing particularly 
on the Philippines' policies on foreign investment, agriculture and  intellectual property. We look 
forward to the Philippines' response to these questions, and we wish the Philippines a successful 
Trade Policy Review.  
REPÚBLICA  DOMINICANA  
4.67.   En primer lugar deseamos felicitar al Gobierno de Filipinas por la tasa de crecimien to 
sostenida de su economía, la cual desde el 2012, se situó en un promedio de 6% anual, lo cual es 
impresionante. Asimismo, el informe de la Secretaría indica que la tasa de pobreza disminuyó del 
25,2% en el 2012 al 21,6% en el 2015, lo cual también es un  resultado alentador, pues muestra 
que el crecimiento y la riqueza ha permeado hacia las capas más pobres de la sociedad. Vemos 
con interés que las inversiones en infraestructura han sido un factor determinante para el 
crecimiento económico, aumentando el mismo del 2,7% del PIB en 2013 al 5% en 2016, 
destinando principalmente ese gasto a la conectividad interinsular, a las conexiones por carretera 
y a medidas para abordar la congestión del tráfico en la región metropolitana de Manila y en otras 
zonas urbana s, medidas que consideramos muy atinadas.  
4.68.   Se debe señalar que el sector de los servicios es el más importante de la economía y es 
también el sector de exportación que crece a mayor ritmo, representando aproximadamente el 
51% del PIB. Felicitamos a Filipin as por los cambios legislativos que han provocado una mayor 
apertura tanto en el sector bancario, ya que desde junio de 2014 se permite que la participación 
de capital extranjero en los bancos llegue al 100%; y en el sector de seguros, ya que desde 
mediado s de 2013, cuando se modificó el Código de Seguros, se aplica trato nacional a las 
compañías de seguros de propiedad extranjera en lo que se refiere a las prescripciones 
reglamentarias.  
4.69.   Asimismo, es importante señalar que durante el período objeto de exam en, Filipinas registró 
una impresionante entrada de inversión extranjera directa (IED): en 2016 las entradas se cifraron 
en 7.900 millones de dólares EE.UU., comparado a 1.900 millones de dólares EE.UU. en 2011, WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  registrando un aumento de más de un 300%. La  mayor parte de esta entrada de fondos se invirtió 
en el sector manufacturero, lo cual se tradujo a su vez, en un aumento importante de las 
exportaciones de productos electrónicos y eléctricos, las cuales representaron el 25,6% de las 
exportaciones totales , frente al 9,6% en 2011.  
4.70.   Asimismo, felicitamos a Filipinas por los avances en el área de facilitación de comercio, con 
una nueva Ley de Aranceles y Modernización de las Aduanas de 2016, la cual tiene por objeto 
modernizar las normas aduaneras, agilizar l os procedimientos aduaneros, reducir las posibilidades 
de que se produzcan casos de corrupción y mejorar la prestación de servicios de aduanas.  
4.71.   Consideramos muy positivo también que Filipinas aprobó su primera Ley de Competencia en 
2015 y estableció una a utoridad de competencia en 2016. Esperamos que sigan fortaleciendo esta 
área. 
4.72.   Finalmente, deseamos agradecer a Filipinas por las respuestas a las preguntas que 
presentamos y desearles que sigan teniendo éxito.  
EUROPEAN  UNION  
4.73.   The EU would like to start by c ommending the Philippines for its significant progress during 
the period under review as showed by its continued strong GDP growth since 2012, with an 
average of 6.7% - including in 2017. This growth has had an impact on poverty (down from 25.2% 
to 21.6%) and unemployment (down to 5.7%) and it has been partly thanks to the economic 
reforms the country has undertaken during the past years and which are still ongoing, including its 
10 point socio -economic plan.  
4.74.   Among the reforms that have taken place during the period under review, the EU 
particularly appreciates the Philippine Competition Act which is fully implemented since 
August  2017; the Cabotage Law amendment adopted in July 2015; the Republic Act 10641 
allowing full entry of foreign banks in the Philip pines adopted in July 2014 and, last but not least, 
the Customs Modernisation and Tariff Act adopted in May 2016.  
4.75.   The relationship between the EU and the Philippines is a longstanding one, which has 
broadened in recent years, both bilaterally and regional ly, through the EU cooperation with ASEAN. 
Just to mention some figures: bilateral trade in goods has increased strongly, reaching 
€14.1  billion in 2017, thanks also to trade preferences offered by the EU to the Philippines under 
the GSP+ programme. The EU  FDI stock in the Philippines also increased in these last years and 
reached €10.5 billion in 2016, with the EU being the largest investor in the country in relevant 
sectors, notably energy, technology, manufacturing and services.  
4.76.   A major development in ou r bilateral relationship was reached on 1 March 2018 with the 
entry into force of the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the EU and 
the Philippines. It will provide the legal framework for further engagement and cooperation 
between the EU and the Philippines on a broad range of areas, going beyond trade matters and 
including notably development cooperation, political dialogue, energy, transport, labour and 
human rights, science and technology. Currently, the Philippines benefits from  enhanced market 
access to the EU through the GSP+ programme and, in this context, we maintain a good dialogue 
with the Philippines on its commitment to implement international conventions on labour rights, 
human rights, environment and good governance.  
4.77.   While the Philippine's positive economic performance has been highlighted important 
concerns remain. Economic reforms must accelerate and several measures remain to be 
implemented to achieve its 2022 upper middle income level goal.  
4.78.   As a general remark, whil e the EU welcomes the reforms announced by the President of the 
Philippines in his Memorandum Order 16 of 21 November 2017 – highlighting upcoming 
liberalization in, among others, practice of professions, public works, public services, retail, 
domestic mar ket, and teaching – the EU would welcome more concrete information on how the 
Government intends to go about these reforms and how it will ensure that they are in line with 
international rules and best practices.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.79.   Turning now to some key areas of concern, w hich have been also raised during previous 
reviews, I would like to draw your attention to the following issues:  
4.80.   First, the EU would like to encourage the Philippines to speed up the ongoing revision 
process to improve non -discriminatory access for foreign bidders and to lift restrictions on 
foreigners' participation in the public procurement of goods. For this, the EU would also suggest an 
easing of licensing requirements for foreign operators, in particular amending the Philippine 
Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) requirements as well as local content requirements.  
4.81.   The EU would also encourage the Philippines t o join the GPA as an observer to attract more 
FDIs.  
4.82.   Second, restrictions to foreign direct investments. In the EU's view, trade and investment 
remain below potential and could benefit of a liberalization of restrictions currently applied to 
foreign invest ments. Domestic market -oriented firms are generally limited to 40% foreign equity, 
and specific foreign equity limits apply in several sectors, notably telecommunications, electricity, 
water, logistic services, media and agriculture. The EU encourages Gove rnment and Congress to 
continue the efforts for the final approval of the Amendment of the Public Services Act, approved 
by the House last September, which would allow more foreign ownership in sectors like 
transportation and telecommunication. The EU also  encourage continuing the revision of the Retail 
Trade Act, doing away with the relatively high capital requirements as well as a further revision of 
the Investment Negative List.  
4.83.   Third, the EU would like to raise some concerns on standards, particularly o n sanitary and 
phytosanitary standards (SPS). While the EU welcomes a number of positive steps that have been 
taken in recent years in the SPS area, further efforts are necessary. The EU encourages the 
Philippines to adopt international standards as Philip pines National Standards (PNS) to further 
increase transparency.  
4.84.   In closing, the EU notes the Philippines has shown commitment to the WTO as an important 
element of its economic growth strategy. We note that the Philippines is fulfilling almost all its 
notification's obligations, with a few exceptions limited to the agriculture sector and the still 
missing 2017 annual notification of its import licensing procedures. We also praise the Philippines 
for having submitted its notifications of Categories A, B and  C under the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement. In this regard, we commend the Philippines for having a rate of Category A 
commitments over 93% and we hope the National Single Window – also as part of the ASEAN 
regional integration – will be fully operational i n 2018 as announced.  
4.85.   On behalf of the EU, I wish The Philippines delegation the utmost success during its Trade 
Policy Review.   
NORWAY  
4.86.   Norway is pleased to note the Philippines' economic growth over a number of years and that 
the poverty rate appears to have decreased. We encourage the Government to continue its work 
to promote poverty reduction and a more equal income distribution. It is important that 
mechanisms to ensure tax collection are strengthened.  
4.87.   Norway values the Philippines' contributions to the work of the WTO. We note with 
appreciation point 2.3 in the Government's report which states that the Philippines is committed to 
promoting a more open, well -functioning and competitive environment. Norway thanks the 
Philippines for its engagement to d raw the attention of WTO Members to the challenges micro, 
small and medium sized economies (MSEMEs) face in international trade.  
4.88.   Let me now touch on the successful negotiations between the Philippines and the EFTA 
States leading to the signing of a free tr ade agreement in April 2016. Norway looks forward to the 
entry into force of the agreement. Bilateral trade stood at US$828 million in 2017. Norway 
believes the Philippines -EFTA agreement will contribute to a considerable increase in these figures 
when the  agreement is implemented.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.89.   Maritime cooperation is a key element in our bilateral relations. Norwegian shipping 
companies employ about 25 000 Filipino seafarers aboard their ships or in shipyards, accounting 
for one third of the total number of seafarers o n Norwegian controlled vessels. The Norwegian 
Training Center in Manila provides relevant training for Filipino seafarers serving on Norwegian 
ships. The Norwegian Maritime Authority cooperates with the Philippine Maritime Industry 
Authority to ensure that  maritime education is in compliance with the International Convention on 
Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. A number of Norwegian 
shipping companies have offices in the Philippines.  
4.90.   I would also like to emphasize that Nor way encourages the Government to liberalize the 
Cargo Reservation Law, which requires that cargoes owned by the Government or controlled by 
state owned corporations shall be shipped on board Philippine flag vessels. A liberalization of these 
sectors will c ontribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the Filipino economy.  
4.91.   In the Philippines, telecoms services are regarded as a public utility. The Constitution as 
well as the Public Service Act limit foreign equity in telecoms companies to 40%. Foreigners  may 
not become executives or managers of telecoms firms, and the number of foreign directors must 
be proportionate to the firm's aggregate share of foreign capital. Norway encourages the 
Philippines to review these statues and to undertake reforms.  
4.92.   Norway  views with interest the amendments made to the Fisheries Code in 2015, and 
commend efforts by the Government of the Philippines to combat illegal, unreported and 
unregulated fishing. We hope further measures will be introduced, including legislative chang es, to 
eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. We note the importance of the Philippines' 
active participation in the fisheries subsidies negotiations in the WTO.  
4.93.   The Philippines is a net importer of energy with diminishing natural gas reser ves. Norway 
encourages the Government to undertake a rapid expansion of renewable and clean energy, mixed 
with continued use of gas by constructing LNG -to-power facilities. We recommend to close down 
coal fired power works.  
4.94.   Norway wishes the Philippines a successful Trade Policy Review.  
CHINA  
4.95.   We are pleased to see the robust economic growth at rate of over 6% each year achieved 
by the Philippines during the period under review. Such growth was driven mainly by consumption 
and infrastructure investment. More  importantly, the quality of economic growth is improving and 
creating more employment. With the Philippine Development Plan 2017 -2022 being implemented, 
we have reasons to believe that the Philippines will continue the rapid growth and achieve the 
sustain able development.  
4.96.   We note that in terms of trade, the manufactured goods took up 84% of merchandise 
exports in 2016, and electronic goods was the biggest export. Services is the most important 
contributor to GDP and is also the fastest growing export secto r. For investment, the Philippines 
recorded an increasing inflow and outflow of FDI during the period under review.  
4.97.   Multilaterally, the Philippines is an active WTO Member, having accepted the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the Protocol amending the T RIPS Agreement, and being a signatory 
to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and its expansion. The Philippines has been 
pushing forward the DDA mandates, with a view to achieving the development objectives and 
enhancing the multilateral trading sys tem. Furthermore, the Philippines is also playing an 
important role in the regional economic cooperation such as ASEAN and APEC, and actively 
engaging with all its dialogue partners.  
4.98.   In order to better understand the latest development in trade policy, we have raised some 
questions concerning issues like: multiple licences or permits for certain imported products; rising 
share of international tariff peaks in total tariffs; export licence for specific minerals; restrictions 
on foreign investment in certain sectors such as mining, energy, construction and public utilities, 
etc. We appreciate the replies by the Philippines side which we would study carefully.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.99.   On the bilateral front, China and the Philippines are good and friendly neighbours. The 
frequent high -level exchanges between the two countries have provided strong political guidance 
and dynamics to the bilateral relations. Currently, the two sides are implementing the consensus 
reached by leaders of both countries, while aligning the Belt and Road Initia tive with the 
Philippines' development strategy and deepening cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, 
investment and other areas. These efforts have served to bring more benefits to both peoples, 
contribute to the region's development and prosperity, s trengthening cooperation with ASEAN in 
particular.  
4.100.   China has become the largest trading partner of the Philippines. In 2017, the bilateral 
trade reached US$50 billion, increased by 8.5%. China has imported one million tonnes of tropical 
fruits from the Phi lippines and there have been nearly one million Chinese tourists visiting the 
Philippines. There are over 300 flights flying between China and the Philippines each week. By the 
end of 2017, the Philippines has invested US$29.7 million in China, while China  has invested 
US$770 million in the Philippines.  
4.101.   In this regard, we are pleased to learn that the Philippines has confirmed to participate in 
the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November, which serves to support trade 
liberalization and ope n China's market to the world. We believe that this will promote the 
Philippines' enterprises export to China and further expand bilateral economic and trade ties. We 
readily welcome more Members to join us in Shanghai.  
4.102.   The WTO is facing challenges and opp ortunities in this moment in time, China, as strong 
supporter of the WTO, would work with the Philippines and other Members to preserve the basic 
principles of and strengthen the multilateral trading system.  
4.103.   Finally, I would wish this TPR a full success.  
UNITED  STATES  
4.104.   The Philippines and the United States are strong allies and partners. We share a long 
history, a common language, and extensive linkages between our peoples, including more than 
four million Filipinos and Filipino -Americans living and studying  in the United States.  
4.105.   Trade has connected the Philippines and the United States for over a century and 
continues to underscore the close ties between our two countries. Two -way trade has grown over 
the decades to an estimated US$27.0 billion in 2016, comp rising just over US$18 billion in goods 
trade and nearly US$9 billion in services.  
4.106.   The Philippines is a leading beneficiary of our Generalized System of Preferences 
programme, with roughly US$1.5 billion of Philippine goods exports to the United States ent ering 
the U.S. market duty free every year. Our two -way investment stock is roughly US$7 billion.  
4.107.   The U.S. -Philippines Trade and Investment Framework Agreement turns thirty next year, 
and has served as an important vehicle for the United States to engage w ith the Philippines and 
make measurable progress on a number of issues. We continue to discuss ways to expand trade 
and investment between our two countries.  
4.108.   The Philippines has been among the fastest growing countries in Asia over the past five 
years; mor e openness to foreign trade and investment will make a vital contribution to the 
Philippines' ability to continue such impressive economic growth.  
4.109.   Today's Trade Policy Review plays an important role in encouraging the dialogue between 
the Philippines and o ther WTO Members on a number of key issues whose elimination would lead 
to trade expansion and greater prosperity for both the Philippines and its trading partners.  
4.110.   In the agriculture sector, the United States and the Philippines have a booming trade 
relationship. Last year, Philippine exports of agricultural products to the United States were 
US$1.2 billion, covering a wide range of products including coconut oil, raw sugar, processed 
fruits, and tuna. Meanwhile, U.S. exports of agricultural products were US$2.6 billion.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.111.   Our two countries have a shared interest in continuing cooperation to ensure a strong 
science -based foundation for our agricultural trade, for the benefit of consumers and exporters. 
Unfortunately, some high profile issues remain. On meat h andling, we continue to be very 
concerned about regulations that impose very rigorous requirements on certain kinds of meat that 
are primarily imported, but less stringent requirements on freshly slaughtered domestic meat. 
Such regulations are inconsistent  with well -established science on food safety.  
4.112.   We also remain concerned about the reported use of reference prices to assess customs 
duties on agricultural products, particularly meat and poultry. We are working to address these 
and other agricultural and SPS trade issues, and hope to hear an assurance from the Philippines at 
today's meeting that it will discontinue this practice.  
4.113.   We welcome steps the Philippines is taking to liberalize its foreign investment regime, 
motivated by an effort to attract foreig n investment to develop its infrastructure and support 
economic growth. However, significant restrictions on foreign ownership remain based on the 
Philippine Constitution and specific laws. We understand the Philippine Congress is taking steps to 
lift some  of the restrictions, particularly in the area of telecommunications and transportation, and 
look forward to hearing from the Philippines about the progress being made.  
4.114.   Despite improvements in the Philippines' system of intellectual property rights (IPR) 
protection in recent years, we continue to have concerns, including the increase of online piracy, 
the availability of counterfeit drugs and other products, and weak provisions in patent law that 
may preclude the issuance of patents on certain chemical form s. 
4.115.   The Philippines' IPR enforcement environment also presents challenges for U.S. rights 
holders, including the slow investigation of IPR -related cases by the Philippine Government and the 
lack of judicial capacity in handling IPR enforcement cases. During  this TPR, we would be 
interested in learning more about the Philippine Government's recent record on IPR and plans to 
increase IPR protection and enforcement.  
4.116.   We continue to have concerns with government procurement policies in the Philippines, 
where vari ous laws and regulations foreclose active and competitive bidding by U.S. companies. 
Eligibility requirements specify minimum Filipino ownership requirements for bidders, and domestic 
goods enjoy preferential treatment over imports in the bid evaluation pr ocess.  
4.117.   The Philippines has also remained on the sidelines of the WTO Agreement on Government 
Procurement. Given the benefits that could accrue to the Philippines from GPA membership, we 
strongly encourage the Philippines to adopt the agreement in the near future. Lifting the 
restrictions on government procurement makes even more sense, as the current Philippine 
government's massive campaign to improve the national infrastructure could benefit greatly from 
the participation of foreign suppliers.  
4.118.   We look forw ard to hearing more about the Philippines' procurement market and efforts to 
broaden the opportunities for overseas companies on a fair and equitable basis.  
4.119.   We thank H.E. Dr Ceferino Rodolfo and his delegation for their attention to our questions. 
We look forward to closer cooperation with the Philippines here at the WTO, bilaterally, and in 
ASEAN and APEC.  
UKRAINE  
4.120.   We are closely monitoring the economic development of the Philippines and note that 
international trade remained central to country's efforts in  raising the incomes and welfare of its 
citizens. Ukraine attaches high importance to strengthening bilateral cooperation with the 
Philippines wishing to build a stronger economic and trade relationship. We commend the 
Philippines on its continuing commitm ent to the multilateral trading system, as shown by its 
ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.  
4.121.   Trade and economic relations between Ukraine and the Philippines have shown robust 
growth in agriculture, industrial sectors, tourism, energy and phar maceuticals.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.122.   The total turnover in goods amounted to over US$200 million in 2017. Mutual cooperation 
of our countries covers different spheres of interest: food, timber and paper, machinery, minerals, 
chemical products, light industry's goods etc. The volu me of trade in services between Ukraine and 
the Philippines amounted to around US$0.5 million.  
4.123.   Within this TPR exercise Ukraine has raised a number of important questions on a range of 
issues of specific interest, covering the following topics:  
 banking;  
 customs procedures, namely risk criteria for shipments, Customs Modernization and Tariff 
Act provisions, including VAT exemptions and VAT refunds for exported agriculture products;  
 Development Plan and Investment Priorities Plan;  
 sanitary and phytosanitary measures.  
4.124.   Ukraine would like to encourage the Republic of Philippines to improve its trade regime in 
the area of SPS increasing transparency, harmonizing its measures with international standards.  
4.125.   Among these issues we are particularly intere sted in getting further clarification from the 
Philippines on relevant administrative orders provided for tests of domestic and import meet and 
other products.  
4.126.   We are grateful to the Philippines for the comprehensive and exceptionally detailed 
responses to  the Ukraine's set of questions, which we are reviewing closely.  
4.127.   In conclusion, I would also like to express our appreciation to the delegation of the 
Philippines for their hard work in preparing for this TPR.  
4.128.   On behalf of Ukraine I wish the Philippines a  very productive and successful Trade Policy 
Review and look forward to further strengthening our bilateral relations.  
BRAZIL  
4.129.   The 6.6% average annual growth during the period under review and the solid fiscal 
policies must be highlighted at the outset. We also commend the Government of the Philippines for 
the recently approved tax reform package.  
4.130.   Regarding trade policy, Brazil attaches great value to the commitment of the Philippines to 
the multilateral trading system. Among many other aspects, we highlight  the Philippines' support 
at MC11 to the Declaration on the establishment of a WTO informal work program for MSMEs.  
4.131.   We also note with appreciation the Philippines' contributions to the WTO monitoring pillar. 
The Philippines has notified its domestic suppor t measures covering the years from 2011 to 2015. 
At the same time, we also encourage the Government to notify more recent years.  
4.132.   Let me now turn to our bilateral trade. After reaching a peak of US$1.2 billion in 2013, 
total trade flows dropped below US$700  million in the last two years.  
4.133.   In 2017, the main products imported by Brazil from the Philippines were electronics. In the 
same year, Brazil exported to the Philippines mainly iron ore, copper, beef and chicken. These 
products are generally being further  processed by industrial plants in the Philippines, thus also 
contributing to local jobs.  
4.134.   In this context, we call attention to the average level of the applied tariffs to agricultural 
products – in particular to animal products (21.8%), sugars (15%) and c offee and tea (18.8%). 
These levels are well above the average applied MFN tariffs to non -agricultural products (7.2%).  
4.135.   Tariff peaks are also concentrated in agricultural products, such as the 65% (out -of-quota) 
tariff to refined cane sugar. Furthermore, the goal – as stated in the Secretariat report – of 
achieving self -sufficiency in certain agricultural products requires a careful look at the country's 
agricultural trade measures.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.136.   In relation to more specific concerns, there is currently a backlog of exp ort plants in Brazil 
that have applied for inspections by the phytosanitary authorities of the Philippines. The waiting 
period is excessive. Some have been waiting for inspections since 2008. This lack of predictability 
is a matter of utmost concern. We ar e engaging bilaterally with the Philippine authorities on this 
subject. As one of the measures aiming at addressing this backlog, Brazil has recently submitted a 
letter of intent for the systemic accreditation of our exporting establishments, starting with  
poultry. We trust that we will be able to achieve progress on this matter in the near future.  
4.137.   Furthermore, we have received recurrent complaints from Brazilian exporters regarding 
excessive, unjustified labelling requirements and the application of standa rds that are not 
consistent with the Codex Alimentarius. According to these complaints, many measures seem to 
be excessive, unpredictable and discriminatory – apparently aiming much more at market control 
than public policy concerns. This perception is als o registered in the Secretariat report as a matter 
of concern for other Members (page 48, paragraph 3.75).  
4.138.   We look forward to continuing to work with the authorities of the Philippines in order to 
further enhance our trade and investment relations.  
4.139.   We als o wish to develop relations between our two respective regional blocs. We therefore 
welcomed the MERCOSUR -ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in New York last September, when 
Ministers agreed to further enhance MERCOSUR -ASEAN economic and trade relations.  
4.140.   In conclusion, we are thankful for the answers provided by the Philippines to the questions 
we submitted. These answers will be carefully considered.  
4.141.   We wish the delegation of the Philippines a very successful Trade Policy Review.  
THAILAND  ON BEHALF  OF ASEAN  
4.142.   I am honoured to deliver this statement on behalf of ASEAN.  
4.143.   With an average annual GDP growth rate of about 6% since its last trade policy review, the 
Philippines is among the fastest growing economies worldwide. Trade and investment also 
significantly exp anded over the review period. The Philippines recorded a 12.6% growth in total 
exports of goods and services in 2014 and a strong inflow of foreign direct investment of 
US$7.9  billion in 2016.  
4.144.   As the Chair of ASEAN last year, the Philippines successfully p romoted unity among ASEAN 
Member States and between ASEAN and our global partners. The Philippines also enhanced its 
integration into ASEAN through trade. From 2013 to 2017, the Philippines' trade with other ASEAN 
Member States accounted for 21% of its tot al trade volume.  
4.145.   ASEAN welcomes the Philippines' efforts in modernizing its trade policies and promoting 
investment facilitation to foster a more open, well -functioning, transparent and competitive 
business environment. These efforts include, among others , enhancing competition policy, 
eliminating various FDI restrictions for professional services, and improving customs procedures. 
Together, these efforts will contribute to sustaining the Philippines' strong economic growth, and 
more broadly, to the region al economic integration objectives of the ASEAN Economic Community.  
4.146.   ASEAN commends the Philippines' for showing its strong commitment to preserving and 
strengthening the rules -based multilateral trading system, including by ratifying the TFA and 
implementing both the ITA and ITA Expansion commitments.  
4.147.   We also wish to comm end the Philippines' active participation and commitment in 
spearheading the discussion on issues such as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), 
which are a vital component of developing members' economies.  
4.148.   We wish the Philippines a successful Fifth Trade Policy Review.   
  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  THAILAND  
4.149.   Thailand and the Philippines have maintained the close and vibrant relations. Both sides 
have the synergy to further deepen and expand cooperation in areas of mutual interest and to 
work together to strengthen the ASEAN Co mmunity as well as to collaborate at both the regional 
and international fora.  
4.150.   In view of bilateral trade, the Philippines has been one of our significant trading partners. 
In 2017, total trade between the two countries amounted to over US$10 billion, grew  by an 
additional 12%. The Philippines was among top ten export destinations of Thailand and the 5th 
largest supplying market in the ASEAN region.  
4.151.   Since its 2012 review, the Philippines has seen strong GDP growth, driven mainly by 
consumption and infrastr ucture investment. We commend the reforms that the Philippines has 
undertaken to make the economy more competitive, especially the Philipine Development Plan 
2017–2022, which is underpinned by sound regulatory practices and competition policy and open 
services markets.  
4.152.   Thailand continues to value the Philippines' contribution and commitment to preserving 
and strengthening the multilateral trading system. During the review period, the Philippines 
provided well over 300 notifications to the WTO and enacted l aws to ensure effective protection 
and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The Philippines' continuous supports for the 
development of predictable disciplines on fisheries subsidies under the WTO also deserve positive 
mention.  
4.153.   In this review, Thai land submitted a set of questions, covering the policies and measures 
of our interests such as the tariffication of its import restrictions on rice and the National Tourism 
Development Plan. We thank the Philippines in advance for written responses.  
4.154.   In con clusion, Thailand would like to express our appreciation to the Philippines for the 
cooperation in every level and the friendly working relationship between our two Missions here in 
Geneva. We wish the Philippines every success in this Trade Policy Review.  
SINGAPORE  
4.155.   Singapore's bilateral economic relationship with the Philippines is underpinned by strong 
and longstanding trade, investment, and people -to-people ties. The Philippines was Singapore's 
14th largest trading partner in 2017, while Singapore was the Philippines' 4th largest trading 
partner in 2016. Bilateral trade in 2017 amounted to S$17.9 billion.  
4.156.   Investments between Singapore and the Philippines continue to grow. As at end -2016, 
investments from the Philippines into Singapore stood at S$3.4 bil lion. Investments from 
Singapore into the Philippines stood at S$7.1 billion. Singapore projects in the Philippines range 
from hospitality, such as the Ascott Group which has several properties in the Philippines, to 
fashion, such as Charles & Keith, which  is known for its trendy shoes.  
4.157.   Tourism between Singapore and the Philippines is robust. In 2017, the Philippines was the 
7th largest source of visitor arrivals for Singapore. Singapore was also the Philippines' 7th largest 
source of visitor arrivals in 20 16. 
4.158.   We congratulate the Philippines for an excellent Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017, during 
which, ASEAN made commendable progress in regional economic integration efforts. The 
Philippines' good work has laid a solid foundation for Singapore's ASEAN Chairma nship this year. 
The Philippines has also performed well in implementing its ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 
commitments at a national level. By the end of 2016, the Philippines had implemented 91.3% of 
all measures under the AEC 2015 Scorecard.  
4.159.   We welcome  the Philippines' ongoing efforts to deepen the integration of the regional 
services market, including its ratification of various commitments under the ASEAN Framework 
Agreement on Services. This has deepened services integration within ASEAN, enhanced 
cooperation in services and reduced barriers for services suppliers and businesses in the region.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.160.   We further commend the Philippines for showing its commitment to the multilateral trading 
system by, inter alia, ratifying the TFA and notifying its Category ' A' commitments, implementing 
its ITA and ITA2 commitments, and making efforts to comply with its notification obligations. We 
hope the Philippines will continue these efforts to close remaining notification gaps, and consider 
participating in the GPA.  
4.161.   We look forward to our continued cooperation with the Philippines at the WTO, such as on 
MSMEs, and wish the delegation a successful TPR.  
NEW  ZEALAND  
4.162.   The reports from the Government of the Philippines and the Secretariat provide a useful 
overview of the Philip pines' trade policy. New Zealand congratulates the Philippines on its 
economic performance since its last Trade Policy Review in 2012, with the Philippines seeing 
continued economic growth at an average rate of about 6.7% per annum.  
4.163.   New Zealand and the Ph ilippines share a warm and close bilateral relationship, with our 
two-way trade reaching $1 billion in 2017 and a fast growing services sector in both directions. 
Our close bilateral relationship is reinforced by our common regional memberships. These incl ude 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the East Asia Summit and the Regional Comprehensive 
Economic Partnership. We also enjoy special trade arrangements through the ASEAN Australia New 
Zealand Free Trade Area.  
4.164.   Like others, New Zealand has posed questions  about the Philippines domestic agricultural 
reform processes. New Zealand supports plans by the Duterte Administration to invest more in 
provincial regions outside Luzon in the context of addressing poverty and improving farm to 
market infrastructure. In terms of better realising the Philippines comparative advantage in the 
agricultural sector, we are interested in what reform plans Philippines has for the rice is sector, in 
particular given the high levels of protection and support provided to it within t he budget of the 
Department of Agriculture.  
4.165.   In the area of fisheries subsidies, we welcome the Philippines pursuit of WTO reform. On 
this issue we have posed questions, as we do routinely in TPRs, around the extent and nature of 
the Philippines domestic po licies and how they ensure that these programmes do not contribute to 
IUU fishing or overfishing and overcapacity. We would be particularly interested in whether the 
Philippines still has any programmes establishing duty or tax rebates for fuel used in fis hing 
operations.  
4.166.   We welcome the Philippines' recent effort to update on its agriculture domestic support 
notifications. We encourage the Philippines to complete this process and indeed extend this to 
other areas as several notifications remain overdue.  
4.167.   With the Philippines being a key and influential developing country and an active 
participant in WTO negotiations and discussions, we look to it to exercise leadership and to work 
constructively towards trying to find solutions to impasses, which have been  blocking further 
progress in a number of areas of WTO negotiations, and thereby permit the WTO to make progress 
towards remaining relevant to the changed global economic circumstances of the 21st century.  
4.168.   Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to thi s important trade policy review.  
INDONESIA  
4.169.   Indonesia associates itself with the statement made by Thailand on behalf of ASEAN.  
4.170.   On behalf of the Indonesian delegation, I would like to convey my appreciation to the 
Philippines delegation for giving us renewe d opportunity to exchange points of view and comments 
on its trade policies and practices. The Government of the Philippines has also provided us with a 
detailed report and early responses to our written questions.  
4.171.   We would like to congratulate the Philipp ines as the country has been experiencing strong 
GDP growth during the period under review. We learned that the Philippines has made a WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  comprehensive Development Plan that will be implemented started from 2017 to 2022 that focuses 
on making the economy more  competitive, underpinned by sound regulatory practices and 
competition policy, and open services markets. We are also encouraged by the Philippines' 
initiatives in improving its competitiveness through adoption of Competition Act.  
4.172.   The Philippines has alwa ys become Indonesia's important trading partners in the South 
East Asia region. We have seen an increase in total trade between Indonesia and the Philippines, 
from US$4.6 million in 2015 to US$6 million in 2016. We welcome the Philippines positive efforts 
in trade policies and competitive business environment, which will contribute to regional economic 
integration objectives of the ASEAN Economic Community 2025. We also took note that the 
Philippines has ratified the TFA and implemented both the ITA and the  ITA expansion 
commitments.  
4.173.   On this occasion, we would like to reiterate Indonesia written questions on the Philippines' 
trade policies and measures concerning notifications obligation in WTO, export restrictions on rice, 
corn and sugar, tariffication of q uantitative restrictions on rice, local content requirements, pre -
shipment inspection, and also standards.  
4.174.   Indonesia believes that this occasion is a good momentum for Indonesia to learn about the 
Philippines trade policies and measures. Furthermore, we ca n also learn about the impact of those 
policies and measures not only domestically but also externally, especially to the other WTO 
Members. As for the Philippines, we believe that this TPR is a good opportunity to examine its 
policies and measures which i n the end will promote the country's economic development and 
growth.  
4.175.   Finally, to finish our remarks, once again, we would like to express our appreciation to the 
delegation of the Philippines for their hard work. We are looking forward to a follow -up 
comm unications with the Philippines delegation, including through and her Geneva -based team.  
4.176.   Indonesia wishes the Philippines a successful Trade Policy Review.  
MALAYSIA  
4.177.   We associate ourselves with the statement by Thailand on behalf of ASEAN.  
4.178.   Since the last Tr ade Policy Review (TPR) in 2012, the Philippines' economy has 
experienced vigorous economic growth at a rate of above 6% each year. Despite natural disasters 
such as Typhoon Yolanda and the dry weather associated with El Niño having an impact on 
agricultur e and fisheries growth in 2014 -2015, we acknowledge the Philippines' positive economic 
performance at the average growth rate of 6.6% for the last five years.  
4.179.   The Philippines has also made visible achievements in developing its own legal framework 
and ins titutions for competition policy with the introduction of its first Competition Act in 2015. We 
wish to congratulate the Philippines on the establishment of a competition authority, namely the 
Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), in 2016. Malaysia look s forward to engaging more with 
the Philippines on this issue within the ASEAN region.  
4.180.   At the multilateral front, we commend the Philippines' continuous efforts in pursuing 
progressive trade and investment policies, such as the Philippines' ratification to  the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement, notification submission pertaining to Category A commitments and 
contribution to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) via modification of its schedule of 
concessions in line with the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration on the Expansion of Trade in IT 
Products.  
4.181.   We would also like to highlight on the Philippines' active contribution in promoting 
discussions on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the WTO with the vision to enable 
MSMEs to be active players in th e global market via continuing discussions on the role and 
importance of the MSMEs in the economic environment. The Philippines has also been a strong 
advocate on MSMEs in the ASEAN context.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.182.   In 2017, the Philippines was ranked Malaysia's 15th largest trad ing partner in the world 
and 4th largest trading partner in ASEAN region. Malaysia's total trade with the Philippines 
increased by 26.1% from US$4.88 billion in 2016 to US$5.94 billion in 2017, with exports to the 
Philippines growing by 21.2% to reach US$3 .85 billion. It is important to highlight that the 
Philippines is currently one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia region, with sound 
economic fundamentals and a globally recognised competitive workforce.  
4.183.   While efforts have been undertaken by the Philippines to eliminate the restrictions of 
foreign participation in some sectors, we encourage the Philippines to continue pursuing relaxation 
of foreign participation rules in some of the remaining areas of interest. We also welcome efforts in 
reforming the food safety regime, with the formulation of a new Food Safety Act and encourage 
the continuous notification at the relevant Committee.  
4.184.   To conclude, allow me to thank the Philippines' on the response to our questions which we 
will examine with gre at interest. We shall also be forwarding additional questions on subsidies 
provided by the Philippines such as the crop insurance, as looks forward to attaining the response.  
4.185.   We wish the Philippines a productive and successful Fifth Trade Policy Review.  
THE SEPARATE  CUSTOMS  TERRITORY  OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN  AND  MATSU  
4.186.   The Philippines and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu 
have enjoyed a close and fruitful trading relationship for many years. The total value of two -way 
trade between was just on US$12 billion in 2017, which makes the Philippines our 10th largest 
trading partner. We recognize also that the Philippines has been recording a strong inflow of 
foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years, resulting largely from an  improvement in the 
economic fundamentals and the business environment, as well as sound macroeconomic policies. 
According to the Secretariat report, we have been one of its main sources of FDI since 2011  
4.187.   Since its last Trade Policy Review in 2012, the Phi lippines' economy has grown at an 
average annual rate of about 6%, driven mainly by consumption and infrastructure investment. 
And, as for the future, it is good to see that its Development Plan 2017 -2022 focuses on making 
the economy more competitive, und erpinned by sound regulatory practices, a competition policy, 
and open services markets.  
4.188.   My delegation has already submitted written questions to the Philippines in advance, 
relating to various topics such as, trade policy decision procedures, the Customs Modernization 
and Tariff Act, Halal Certificates, and Intellectual Property Rights. We look forward to receiving 
replies in due course.  
4.189.   We are also pleased to note the Philippines' on -going commitment to global engagement 
and policy liberalization, with it s determination to pursue regional integration. In addition, I would 
like to acknowledge the role played by the Permanent Mission of the Philippines in our collective 
work here in Geneva, especially in promoting the Joint Ministerial Statement at the recen t MC11 
on the establishment of a WTO informal work programme for MSMES. We shall continue to work 
together to translate our common energy into an action -oriented process that can deliver 
meaningful steps for MSMEs.  
4.190.   And finally, our close and friendly relat ionship with the people of the Philippines not only 
applies to just economic factors, but to cultural tradition and social integration too. We very much 
appreciate the hard work and contributions made by the expat population of 150,000 Filipinos to 
our own  economic development. "A friend in need is a friend indeed."  
4.191.   May I conclude by wishing the Philippines a very constructive and s uccessful Trade Policy 
Review.  
REPUBLIC  OF KOREA  
4.192.   Korea and the Philippines have maintained a close economic relationship since the 
establishment of diplomatic relations in 1949. Our economic relationship has been further 
enhanced since the entry into force of the FTA in goods between Korean and ASEAN in 2008, the WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  FTA in Services in 2009, and the FTA in Investment in 2010. Last year, the two -way trade volume 
between our two countries amounted to US$14.3 billion, which is a record high and 2 times larger 
than that of 2009.  
4.193.   Economic relations between Korea and the Philippines are expected to increasingly expand 
as negotiations for regional free trade agreements which both countries participate in are in 
progress. The negotiations for the further liberalization of Sensitive Track products under the 
ASEAN -Korea Trade in Goods Agreement (AKTIGA) have been under way since 2016. Moreover, 
the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations which commenced in 2013 are 
ongoing with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of 2018.  
4.194.   As the Secretariat's report highlights, my delegation notes that the Philippine economy has 
grown at an average annual rate of about 6%. It is noteworthy that this growth is driven by 
infrastructure investment, which in turn lays the foundations for further development. The re port 
also indicates that foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased four -fold during the review 
period.  
4.195.   In this regard, we recognize and praise these achievements made by the Philippines. 
Through the Philippine Development Plan 2017 -2022, the Philippine s is expected to achieve a path 
to even higher growth. The Philippines also accepted the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and 
submitted a notification regarding its category A commitments during the review period and 
recently category B and C. Korea also a ppreciates the Philippines for their active contribution to 
MSMEs discussion in the WTO. We believe that all of these efforts made by the Philippine 
government will contribute much towards economic growth and trade expansion for the Philippines 
going forwa rd. 
4.196.   While highlighting the Philippines' achievements, I would also like to take this opportunity 
to touch upon some concerns regarding the Philippines' policies. As previous speakers pointed out, 
despite steps towards liberalization taken by the Philippine s, Korea is still concerned about the 
restrictive nature of the FDI regime. For example, the Philippines has established a Foreign 
Negative List (FINL) of activities under which FDI is restricted. As the Secretariat's Report 
highlights, attraction of furth er FDI has been hampered by factors such as infrastructure problems 
and restrictions on foreign ownership.  
4.197.   At this TPR, Korea submitted our written questions regarding the restrictions on FDI. We 
thank the delegation of the Philippines for providing answer  to the questions, which will be 
carefully reviewed in our headquarter.  
4.198.   Korea would like to highlight the efforts the Philippines has made since the last review to 
enable an overall efficient trading environment. We therefore wholeheartedly encourage the 
Philippines to keep in the direction of facilitating trade and investment and improving the overall 
economic environment in a sustainable manner.  
4.199.   Korea looks forward to working with the Philippines to enhance opportunities for trade and 
investment, and in turn promote the economic growth of the Philippines.  
4.200.   Finally, we would like to once again express our sincere appreciation to the delegation of 
the Philippines for their hard work and wish them every success in this TPR.  
TURKEY  
4.201.   The Philippines is one of t he fastest growing counties in the Southeast Asia.  
4.202.   Like many other delegations that took the floor today, we also welcome the average 
growth rate of the Philippines economy, which is about 6% during the review period. We think that 
the reduction in the po verty rate, growth rate of the exports of electronics and electrical goods, 
the decrease in the total Government debt to GDP ratio, strong inflow of foreign direct investment 
since the last review are promising figures. We believe the Philippines' economy will be even 
stronger and more competitive with the implementation of the Development Plan 2017 -2022.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.203.   The Philippines is a very important partner for Turkey in Southeast Asia and we are closely 
in cooperation in various platforms such as the UN, the WTO a nd the ASEAN. Turkey sees the 
Philippines as a key country, which greatly contributes to prosperity of its region.  
4.204.   In this regard, we are glad that the 1st meeting of Turkish -Philippine Joint Economic 
Committee took place last month in Ankara, where we de fined several cooperation areas. On this 
occasion, we also decided to double our trade by the end of 2019.  
4.205.   We are pleased to see that during the review period, the Philippines has signed a number 
of free trade agreements with countries and regions around the world. At this point, it is important 
for us to mention that Turkey also would like to explore the possibility of making an FTA with the 
Philippines to boost bilateral trade between our countries.  
4.206.   Being one of the last speakers today, we will not repe at the other important points 
mentioned by other delegations today.  
4.207.   One issue, only, we would like to bring to the attention of the Philippine delegation today is 
on agriculture. While underscoring the progress in several procedural areas during the revie w 
period, we ask the Philippines to accelerate conclusion of the review of Harmful Risk Analysis 
reports and tests for agricultural products.  
4.208.   Finally, we would like to mention our appreciation to be given the opportunity to make our 
points known on the tra de policy of the Philippines and we wish the Philippines a very successful 
review.  
COSTA  RICA 
4.209.   Costa Rica y Filipinas comparten similitudes climáticas e históricas, que nos han llevado 
por caminos paralelos en materia económica y comercial. Ambos contamos c on una ventaja 
comparativa importante en materia agrícola, y estamos entre los principales productores 
mundiales de productos tropicales como banano y piña. A nivel multilateral mantenemos una gran 
preocupación e interés en lograr un sistema más justo que nos permita competir en igualdad de 
condiciones. Como miembros del Grupo Cairns, ambos impulsamos activamente el proceso de 
reforma del comercio agrícola. También somos economías en transición con un enfoque hacia los 
servicios y hemos sabido aprovechar la s ventajas del turismo como motor del desarrollo. Por otro 
lado, también entendemos que las nuevas tecnologías ofrecen nuevas oportunidades; y en este 
campo Filipinas ha mostrado el camino con su rápida implementación de la Expansión del Acuerdo 
de Tecnolo gías de la Información (ATI) acordada en Nairobi en diciembre de 2015.   
4.210.   A nivel doméstico, Filipinas ha tenido una gestión macroeconómica sólida desde su último 
examen de política comercial. Según el informe de la Secretaría, el país ha mostrado tasas de 
crecimiento en los últimos años de hasta 6% anual en promedio; con una tasa de desempleo a la 
baja y cercana al pleno empleo; una baja inflación y un déficit fiscal bajo control; y fuertes 
entradas de inversión extranjera directa. Su sector manufacturero s e mantiene sólido, mientras 
que el sector de servicios ha aportado dinamismo al sector exportador. En particular, las 
exportaciones de servicios de informática y de información y de otros servicios prestados a las 
empresas, tanto técnicos como relacionados  con el comercio alcanzaron 17.300 millones de 
dólares en el 2016, lo que supuso el 70% de las exportaciones totales de servicios. Filipinas 
además ha entrado en la "ventana demográfica" al contar con una población sumamente joven, lo 
que se convierte en u na gran oportunidad para impulsar una nueva senda de crecimiento 
económico.  
4.211.   Dicho esto, Filipinas también enfrenta importantes retos; aunque los últimos años han 
mostrado que es posible reducir la pobreza, ésta sigue afectando a uno de cada cinco filipinos . La 
inversión social es aún más urgente teniendo en consideración que la transformación estructural 
de la economía hacia una basada en el conocimiento y la innovación obliga a repensar las 
estrategias educativas y de empleo para que la población, mayorita riamente joven, se incorpore 
exitosamente al mercado laboral. La calidad de la infraestructura es otro cuello de botella que se 
ve magnificado por el carácter insular de su geografía, y que afecta en particular el desarrollo del 
sector agrícola y turístico , dos sectores que concentran a una parte importante del empleo y de la 
actividad económica. A esto además debe agregarse una alta vulnerabilidad al cambio climático y WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  a los desastres naturales. Al respecto es muy positivo el esfuerzo del gobierno en esta área, al 
aplicar políticas agresivas para incrementar el gasto anual en infraestructura hasta un mínimo de 
5% del PIB, cifra que se alcanzó en el 2016.  
4.212.   A nivel comercial, el reporte del Gobierno señala un factor de riesgo ante la concentración 
de los ingr esos en un pequeño número de bienes y servicios, lo que expone al sector a posibles 
perturbaciones de la oferta y de la demanda de esos productos. También se debe apuntar que 
apenas el 65% de las líneas arancelarias de Filipinas están consolidadas ante la OMC, por lo que 
existe un amplio espacio para incrementar la predictibilidad y transparencia de su sistema 
arancelario. Además, nos llama la atención la aplicación de restricciones a la propiedad extranjera 
en telecomunicaciones, en el sector agrícola y en  restaurantes, área que suele ser complementaria 
a la de hospedaje en el sector turístico. Al respecto sugerimos evaluar la posibilidad de aplicar 
medidas alternativas que permitan incrementar la inversión extranjera directa en estos sectores.  
4.213.   Tenemos un p rofundo interés en las políticas nacionales que está desarrollando Filipinas en 
materia de infraestructura, resiliencia al cambio climático, políticas de innovación, facilitación de 
comercio; promoción del turismo, economía digital y de protección de datos . Como país que busca 
ser carbono neutral, seguiremos con atención la implementación del Programa Nacional de 
Energías Renovables. Esperamos también la evaluación de los resultados de la Hoja de Ruta para 
el Comercio Electrónico, 2016 -2020, y la Hoja de Ru ta para Empresas Emergentes Digitales 2015 
y más allá. Estos son temas que hemos identificado como prioritarios para nuestra política 
comercial y que hallamos sumamente atinentes a las discusiones que se desarrollan actualmente 
en el ámbito multilateral.  
4.214.   Señor Presidente, aunque Costa Rica no presentó preguntas en esta ocasión, mantenemos 
un interés continuo en las políticas comerciales de Filipinas como Miembro con un peso importante 
en el comercio mundial e igual liderazgo en los trabajos de la OMC. Por ú ltimo, agradecemos una 
vez más a Filipinas por su reporte y las respuestas brindadas; y le deseamos grandes éxitos en 
este Examen de Políticas Comerciales.  
INDIA  
4.215.   We note from the Secretariat and Government reports that the economy of the Philippines 
has recorded high average real GDP growth of 6.3% from 2010 to 2016. The GDP per capita also 
increased from US$2850 in 2012 to US$2950 in 2016. The major challenges for the Philippines 
include structural reforms, increasing investment in infrastructure, social  expenditure, 
diversification of the basket of exports and vulnerability to natural disasters. We comment the 
Government of the Philippines for the initiatives taken to address these challenges and maintain a 
healthy rate of growth of the economy. These in clude the Philippines' Development Plan 
2017-2022 which focuses on making the economy more competitive by improving regulatory 
practices, competition policy, facilitating investments and opening services markets and reforms in 
other areas.  
4.216.   India and the Ph ilippines share close and friendly relations. There are regular high -level 
exchanges between both countries including under the framework of ASEAN. Trade between both 
countries stood at US$1.98 billion in 2016 -17. Though modest, there is considerable poten tial to 
expand our trade ties in areas including automobiles, engineering goods, chemicals, iron and steel, 
meat animal and agricultural products. Both countries also have a broad based institutional 
framework in place from promoting trade and investment b etween both countries. Indian 
companies are investing in the Philippines in areas like textiles, IT, automobiles and 
pharmaceuticals. Similarly, companies from the Philippines are also investing in India in various 
areas including engineering machinery, po wer and manufacturing sector.  
4.217.   Under the Look East Policy, India attaches great importance to its multifaceted and special 
relations with the ASEAN countries. Recently, at the ASEAN -India Commemorative Summit in the 
Delhi Declaration, our leaders highlighte d the need to further strengthen ASEAN -India economic 
relations including through the full utilization and effective implementation of ASEAN -India free 
Trade Area. For capacity building and human resources development, India is also regularly 
offering scho larships to professionals from the Philippines under India's Economic and Technical 
Cooperation programme.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.218.   I also wish to highlight a few specific issues and concerns which are impacting the 
potential of our bilateral trade relations:  
i. India is exporting bo vine meat to the Philippines. However, our exports are adversely 
affected due to the restrictions including certification/inspection requirements for export to 
wet markets in the Philippines.  
ii. There is considerable potential in the area of automobiles. Howe ver, the high rate of duties 
in the Philippines remains a major barrier for the Indian automobile industry. We would 
urge the Philippines to look into this and consider lowering tariffs to rates comparable with 
other countries.  
iii. India has a highly competiti ve and globally acclaimed pharmaceutical industry. However, 
our companies find it difficult to trade in the Philippines due to the complex regulatory 
framework.  
iv. Issues related to SPS measures also affect trade of agriculture and animal products from 
India to the Philippines.  
 
4.219.   We would urge the Government of the Philippines to look into and address these issues.  
4.220.   To conclude, we look forward to working closely with the authorities of the Philippines for 
further expanding and harnessing the potential of our tr ade and investments ties for mutual 
benefit. We wish the delegation of the Philippines a productive and successful TPR.  
BRUNEI  DARUSSALAM  
4.221.   At the outset, Brunei Darussalam would like to associate herself with the ASEAN statement 
delivered by Singapore.  
4.222.   Our diplomatic relation with the Philippines was officially established in 1984, and since 
then our cooperation has been robust and dynamic. This cooperation spans across a wide range of 
area, including labour, defense, agriculture, education, health, culture , ICT, and communications.  
4.223.   In relation to trade, we enjoy strong two -way trade which stood at US$33 million in 2016, 
and among ASEAN, Philippines was Brunei Darussalam's 6th largest trading partner. As we 
continue to further enhance economic cooperation bi laterally, regionally under the ASEAN 
Economic Community and sub -regionally under the ambit of BIMP -EAGA, Brunei Darussalam is 
confident that our trade ties will remain strong in the future.  
4.224.   Brunei Darussalam commends the economic performance of the Philip pines since the last 
review. The structural transformation that the Philippines continues to pursue has evidently 
contributed to its sustainable growth, expansion in the manufacturing sector and attractiveness as 
an investment destination. On this note, Br unei Darussalam applauds the Philippine Development 
Plan in keeping up the momentum to improve its competitive environment.  
4.225.   Brunei Darussalam is encouraged with the Philippines commitment to the Multilateral 
Trading System. The Philippines ratified the Tra de Facilitation Agreement in October 2016, and this 
will supplement their encouraging trade facilitation reform in simplifying, modernizing customs 
rules and procedures, as well as import clearances.  
4.226.   Brunei Darussalam applauds the proactive role of the Phi lippines has played in pushing the 
Micro Small Medium Enterprises agenda. Taking into account of their domestic initiatives in 
addressing critical challenges of MSMEs development, Brunei Darussalam looks forward to hear 
Philippines' views on how we can add ress these challenges together in a multilateral context.  
4.227.   Before I conclude, we would like to take this opportunity to wish the Philippines every 
success in their fifth trade policy review.  
  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  MYANMAR  
4.228.   Myanmar strongly supports the WTO's TPR mechanism which aims at facilitating the 
smooth functioning of the multilateral trading system by enhancing the transparency of Members' 
trade policies. This TPR mechanism is useful and supportive for members in enhancing 
transparency and understanding of the member's tra ding system in a comprehensive approach.  
4.229.   Myanmar and the Philippines are closely working together not only in WTO's Multilateral 
Trading System but also in regional trade agendas including ASEAN and ASEAN plus. In terms of 
bilateral relationship, Myanmar and Philippines established the diplomatic  relations in 1956.  
4.230.   According to our record, the two -way trade between Myanmar and the Philippines reached 
over 56 million US dollars in 2016 -2017 Fiscal Year. Our major export products to the Philippines 
are pulse and beans, clothes, rice, and corn. Our import products from the Philippines are 
pharmaceutical products, plastic products, machine and machinery products, milk powder, 
detergents, and construction products.  
4.231.   In terms of the Foreign Direct Investment in Myanmar, the volume of investment from the 
Philippines was US$147.173 million in September 2017.  
4.232.   According to the Secretariat's report, at first, I would like to highlight some economic 
development of the Philippines. The economy of the Philippines has increased 6% annually since 
2012. The services  sector contributes 51% to GDP and manufacturing sector contributes 25% to 
GDP. The poverty rate of the Philippines decreased from 25.2% in 2012 to 21.6% in 2015. We also 
noted that the Philippines has a very young population which accounts for 70% of work ing age 
population.  
4.233.   The merchandise trade volume of the Philippines was US$142.2 billion in 2016. This trade 
performance was remarkable and the ratio of merchandise trade to GDP was 46%. During the 
review period, the Philippines recorded a strong inflow of  FDI which amount reached US$7.9 billion 
in 2016. This clearly shows that the Philippines has improved the economic fundamental and 
business environment as well as sound macroeconomic policies.   
4.234.   Over the review period, the Philippines remains unchanged to  the institutional framework 
for trade policy except the area of SPS measures and agriculture. The Philippines has preferential 
trading agreements with 15 partners including ASEAN. FTA negotiations with the EU are still 
ongoing. The average applied MFN tar iff is 7.6%, up from 6.4% in 2011. We noted that many 
import items are subject to license or permits when imported, and multiple permits or licenses are 
required for certain products.  
4.235.   The Philippines consolidated its regulatory framework for trade continge ncy measures 
under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act enacted in 2016. The Competition Act was enacted 
in 2015 and a competition authority was established in 2016. In addition, new legislation on public 
procurement entered into force in 2016.  
4.236.   We lea rned that Government of the Philippines has strongly increased its infrastructure 
spending, from 2.7% of GDP in 2013 to 5% in 2016. The central bank of the Philippines maintains 
an inflation -targeting policy with 3% target set. We also well observed that t he Philippines 
Development Plan 2017 -2022 focuses on making the economy more competitive with sound 
regulatory practices and open services markets.   
4.237.   The Philippines is actively playing in both regional and multilateral trading system. The 
Philippines is m aking her best effort especially to the informal discussion on the subject of MSMEs 
in the WTO. 87 WTO Members signed the joint statement declaring on MSMEs in MC11 and we 
really appreciate the Philippines for its active participation on this process. We w ant to see 
continued and effective support of the Philippines to the WTO especially in safeguarding and 
strengthening multilateral trading system.  
4.238.   In conclusion, we wish the delegation of the Philippines every success in their 5th Trade 
Policy Review. Than k you for your kind attention.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  VIET  NAM 
4.239.   We would like to associate ourselves with the ASEAN joint statement delivered by 
Thailand.  
4.240.   First of all, we would like to commend the Philippines for its positive economic performance 
since its last TPR in 2011 with an average real GDP growth rate of 6.6%, which places it among 
the fastest growing economies in the world. The robust growth was made possible thanks to the 
Philippines' active pursuit of various reform programs as well as its well -managed macroeconomic 
policy efforts.   
4.241.   Since Viet Nam and Philippines upgraded our relations to a strategic partnership in 2015, 
the bilateral trade has brought about positive results. During the period of 2012 -2017, the 
two-way trade has increased 7.1% and reached US$4 billion in 2017. Of the total, Viet Nam's 
export to Philippines recorded US$2.8 billion, a year -on-year increase of 8.7%, while import from 
Philippines rose by 3.7% year -on-year to US$1.2 billion.  
4.242.   In terms of investments, by the end of 2017, the Philippines has h ad 72 projects in Viet 
Nam, ranking 33th out of 116 countries and territories investing in the country. The two countries 
aim to further promote cooperation in a number of fields such as oil and gas, electricity and 
petroleum.  
4.243.   We highly value the developme nts that the Philippines has made despite typhoon Yolanda, 
the dry weather associated with El Niño and external headwinds and believe that the country's 
Development Plan 2017 -2022, which focuses on making the economy more competitive, 
underpinned by sound regulatory practices and competition policy, the strength of higher domestic 
demand and open services markets as stated in its Government Report, will be another success.  
4.244.   Viet Nam also commends the Philippines' efforts in deepening its integration and 
supporting the multilateral trading system by, among other things, ratifying the TFA and 
implementing both ITA and ITA Expansion commitments.  
4.245.   As strategic partners, Viet Nam and the Philippines have been continuing to deepen and 
broaden the bilateral trade rel ations. In this regard, Viet Nam encourages the Philippines to 
continue pursuing progressive liberalisation in agricultural trade and to consider further reforms to 
enhance productivity of its agricultural sector.  
4.246.   I would like to conclude by putting on rec ord our high appreciation for the Philippines's 
constructive engagement and commitment to the rules -based multilateral trading system, and by 
wishing the Philippines every success in its economic and social development. I would also like to 
wish the Philip pines delegation a very productive and successful Trade Policy Review.  
SRI LANKA  
4.247.   My delegation notes with interest the achievements of the Philippines' economy over the 
last review period on diverse perspectives such as:  
 economic growth at an average annua l rate of 6%.  
 decline of poverty rate from 25.2% in 2012 to 21.6% in 2015.  
 export growth of major export item, i.e. electronics and electrical goods from 9.6% in 2011 
to 25.6% in 2016.  
 growth of export services.  
 decrease of government debt.  
 growth  of attraction of foreign direct investment.  
4.248.   It is interesting to note and inspired us to chase the contribution made by the Technical 
Committee on WTO Matters and the Committee for the ASEAN Economic Community which are 
directing the constructive trade po licies in the country.  
4.249.   We believe that the sound and consistent economic policies of the Philippines' Government 
such as the 'Philippine Development Plan 2017 -2022' will help to improve the country's economic WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  status through open services markets, good reg ulatory practices and sound competition policy and 
institutions focusing on the competitiveness of the economy.  
4.250.   My delegation has concerns over increase of average applied MFN tariff rates from 6.4% in 
2011 to 7.6% in 2017, which has been resulted from HS  2017 transposition and low percentage of 
bound tariff lines.  
4.251.   The bilateral trade between Philippines and Sri Lanka stands at a moderate level, but 
increasing over the years. The total trade turnover between two countries in 2010 has increased 
3.5 folds b y 2017. Both Philippines and Sri Lanka have enjoyed favourable balance of trade from 
time to time. Export of Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing 
industry to the Philippines has become dominant accounting for 30% of Sri La nkan exports to the 
Philippines, followed by Textile and Apparel. Food preparations, for infant, use is the top most 
importing item to Sri Lanka from the Philippines over the years.  
4.252.   With the objective of strengthening trade and economic ties between the t wo countries a 
Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry and 
the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka was signed in Manila. The aim 
of this MOU was to exchange information, develop business  contacts and to establish Business 
Councils in each country.  
4.253.   In the multilateral front, my delegation appreciates the Philippines' highly valued 
contribution to the multilateral trading system and its active engagement in the negotiations in the 
WTO, spec ially initiating MSMEs discussions at the multilateral frontier. Philippines' active 
contribution at G33 deliberations is highly commendable. The Philippines ratified the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement in October 2016 and has duly fulfilled its notification obligations. It is 
interesting to note that most of the TFA provisions have been implemented by the time the 
Agreement came into effect. We welcome the implementation of Customs Modernization and Tariff 
Act of 2016 which aims to modernize customs rules, ex pedite customs procedures, reduce 
opportunities for corruption, and improve customs service delivery.  
4.254.   In concluding, let me thank both the WTO Secretariat and the Government of the 
Philippines for the comprehensive reports made available in advance to this  meeting. I also thank 
the discussant for his analytical presentation at the beginning of this review. My delegation 
sincerely wishes the Philippines' delegation a successful deliberation on its fifth Trade Policy 
Review.  
GUATEMALA  
4.255.   Durante el período estud iado, observamos como medidas positivas, la implementación de 
la Estrategia de Infraestructura Nacional de la Calidad, destinada a mejorar la calidad de los 
productos y servicios producidos en el país y a garantizar la seguridad de los consumidores. 
Adopta ndo para ello medidas importantes que aumenten la competitividad hacia la apertura de 
nuevos mercados comerciales.   
4.256.   Otro gran avance a destacar en la promulgación de la Ley de Competencia de Filipinas en 
el año 2015, la cual promueve la protección de los consumidores así como garantiza una 
observancia efectiva antimonopolio para acelerar la inversión y favorecer la creación de empleo.  
4.257.   En lo que respecta a Facilitación del comercio, el Gobierno de Filipinas desde el año 2016 
trabaja en la implementación de normas que permitan simplificar los procedimientos aduaneros, 
así como en la eliminación de aquellos costos que no son necesarios para la realización de los 
mismos. Todo ello con el objetivo de lograr servicios aduaneros de calidad, trasparencia y 
eficienc ia.  
4.258.   En materia de inversión la implementación del Plan de Desarrollo de Filipinas y el Plan de 
Prioridades de Inversión tienen por finalidad ampliar las oportunidades económicas en la industria 
y los servicios y alentar la inversión en sectores específico s para garantizar un crecimiento 
inclusivo y ofrecer oportunidades económicas a un segmento más amplio de la población, 
especialmente a las microempresas y pequeñas y medianas empresas (MIPYME), las mujeres, los 
jóvenes y los grupos vulnerables  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.259.   El formar p arte de ASEAN, se ha convertido en uno de los principales impulsos a su 
economía, que representan obtener un lugar destacado en el entorno comercial regional.  
4.260.   Filipinas ha hecho esfuerzos para promover un mayor grado de innovación, realizando 
dinámicas de  investigación guiada con el objetivo de desarrollar nuevas fuentes de producción en 
el sector empresarial. En mayo de 2016 se creó el Departamento de Tecnología de la Información 
y las Comunicaciones para planificar, elaborar y promover el programa nacion al de tecnología de la 
información y las comunicaciones en apoyo del desarrollo nacional.  
4.261.   En este periodo examinado cabe mencionar que en materia de propiedad intelectual el 
Gobierno de Filipina, promulgó legislaciones que fortalecen la protección y observ ancia de los 
derechos de propiedad intelectual. Creo la Oficina de Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos, la 
cual tiene dentro de sus funciones el acreditar sociedades de gestión colectiva, la concesión de 
derechos de autor para todo tipo de obras.  
4.262.   Para fin alizar, deseamos a la delegación de Filipinas una exitosa conclusión de su quinto 
examen de políticas comerciales.  
HONDURAS  
4.263.   Notamos que desde el último Examen de las Políticas Comerciales de Filipinas, realizado en 
2012, la economía del país ha crecido a una tasa media anual del 6%,  
4.264.   la tasa de pobreza disminuyó del 25,2% en 2012 al 21,6% en 2015 y la relación entre la 
deuda pú blica total y el PIB disminuyó del 41% en 2012 al 35% en 2016.  
4.265.   Al mismo tiempo, resaltamos que la inflación actualmente se sitúa en el 3% y el Gobierno 
ha aumentado considerablemente el gasto en infraestructura del 2,7% del PIB en 2013 al 5% en 
2016.  
4.266.   Filipinas sigue teniendo importantes reservas internacionales y en 2016, estas ascendieron 
a 80.700 millones de dólares EE.UU. las que equivalen a casi, nueve meses de importaciones.  
4.267.   Los informes examinados destacan la adopción del Plan de Desarrollo de Filipinas para 
2017-2022 el cual se centra en dotar de mayor competitividad a la economía, a través de buenas 
prácticas de reglamentación, una política de competencia sólida y mercados de servicios abiertos.  
4.268.   Adicionalmente, el Gobierno ha adoptado un Programa Nacional de Energías Renovables 
para fomentar el desarrollo de las energías renovables y en junio de 2017, el Departamento de 
Tecnología de la Información y las Comunicaciones (DIC T) adoptó un Plan Nacional de Banda 
Ancha, que servirá de guía para mejorar la infraestructura de telecomunicaciones y promover la 
apertura de la red en el país  
4.269.   Nos complace visualizar que el garantizar la seguridad alimentaria sigue siendo el objetivo 
más importante de la política agrícola filipina, incluyendo, entre otros componentes, un programa 
de crédito para los agricultores, un programa sobre productos pecuarios, lácteos y avícolas; y una 
campaña pública de comercialización de las exportaciones de c ultivos de alto valor.  
4.270.   La agricultura y la silvicultura aportan alrededor del 10% del PIB y Filipinas figura entre los 
principales productores mundiales de bananas, cocos, piñas y arroz y son un exportador neto de 
pescado y productos del pescado.  
4.271.   Adicion almente, la caña de azúcar es uno de los cinco principales cultivos del país y la 
campaña agrícola 2016/2017 (de septiembre a agosto) fue la mejor de los últimos 38 años, con  
una producción de 2,5 millones de toneladas de azúcar en bruto.  
4.272.   Notamos que la L ey de Inocuidad de los Alimentos de 2013 es la primera ley integral en 
materia de inocuidad alimentaria y se aplica a todos los alimentos "de la granja a la mesa", ya 
sean de producción nacional o importados.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.273.   Quisiéramos remarcar que el sector de los servi cios es el que más contribuye al Producto 
Interno Bruto y al Empleo y resaltamos que durante el período objeto de examen, la participación 
de los servicios financieros se mantuvo en torno al 10% del PIB.  
4.274.   En 2016, Filipinas ocupó el puesto 107 de 175 terri torios en el índice de desarrollo de las 
TIC de la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones y durante el período examinado la 
penetración de los servicios móviles mostró una tendencia creciente, mientras que la de los 
servicios fijos en general se mantuvo  estable.  
4.275.   También queremos notar que se considera que el sector turístico es fundamental para el 
desarrollo social y económico de Filipinas y en 2016, el sector represento un 8,6% del PIB y un 
12,8% del empleo.  
4.276.   Filipinas ocupa el puesto 99º en el indicado r sobre la "facilidad de hacer negocios" del 
Banco Mundial correspondiente a 2017, en comparación con el puesto 134º en 2012 y el país ha 
llevado a cabo, entre otras medidas, reformas contra la corrupción en sus servicios aduaneros, lo 
que ha reducido sign ificativamente los plazos de despacho de aduana.  
4.277.   Finalmente, Señor Presidente, Honduras felicita a Filipinas por sus importantes logros 
durante el período de examen y les deseamos el mayor de los éxitos y aprovechamos la 
oportunidad para darle la bienvenid a al Embajador Designado ante la OMC, Manuel Teheenke.  
CAMBODIA  
4.278.   Cambodia associates itself with the statement made by Thailand on behalf of the ASEAN.  
4.279.   My delegation congratulates the Philippines for maintaining the annual GDP growth rate at 
an average of a bout 6% since its last TPR. We also appreciate the Philippines for putting efforts in 
promoting its trade and investment policies to be more open, transparent and competitive. 
Adoption of Competition Act along with an establishment of its authority during the review period 
is an example that the Philippines puts its commitment to secure the business environment.  
4.280.   We commend the Philippines for being an active and important member of ASEAN. We also 
commend the Philippines for its commitment in the WTO by part icipating in the WTO negotiations 
and maintaining this rule -based multilateral trading system by ratifying the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement as well as fulfilling its notification obligations.  
4.281.   In the context of bilateral relations, Cambodia and the Philippi nes official diplomatic 
relation was established since 1957 and recently further enhanced by the signing of cooperation 
pacts in four areas: labour, sports, combating transnational crimes and tourism during the State 
Visit of President Rodrigo R. Duterte t o Cambodia in December 2016.  
4.282.   People -to-people relations are also going strong. The world well -known heritage province 
of Siem Reap and Manila are connected by a direct flight operated by Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific 
Air. Cambodia received 108,032 Filipi no tourists in 2016 and is also home to more than 6,000 
Filipino employed in the sectors of engineering, accounting, banking, business consulting, 
education, arts and entertainment.  
4.283.   My delegation hopes our two countries will expand trade and investment as results of 
conversations either through bilateral, regional or other fora to explore more opportunities to 
promote the mutual and reciprocal trade.  
4.284.   My delegation wishes the Philippines a successful 5th TPR. 
SWITZERLAND  
4.285.   It is difficult not to be impressed b y the economic indicators of the Philippines which 
almost all point to a vibrant and robust economy. Economic growth is strong and persistently so. 
Unemployment has been on a declining path as has been inflation in spite of a closing output gap. 
Fiscal pol icy has been guided by prudence and public debt is comparably low. The balance of 
payments has undergone some changes. The current account surplus has given way to a slight WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  deficit. But this is in part due to a scaling up of investment which will benefit t he economy in the 
long run.  
4.286.   Indeed, the improvement of the infrastructure will be key for the future economic 
performance of the country. Few economies in the world are faced with the everyday challenges of 
interconnecting 7000 islands. The unusual geograp hic situation of the country means that its 
economic operators are widely dispersed. They have to make an extra effort to engage with their 
business partners. In any event, all of the recent economic developments are likely to help the 
Philippines in its s truggle to alleviate the adverse effects of strikingly unequal income distribution.  
4.287.   The positive outcome of a carefully calibrated economic policy mix is not only contributing 
to the reduction of poverty inside the country. Whilst creating a favourable ena bling environment 
for domestic business, the Philippines has not lost sight of the global picture. We get a sense that 
the Philippines has utilized the success of its tenacious reform efforts as a bedrock from which to 
conduct an active and constructive tr ade policy.  
4.288.   Switzerland highly appreciates the multi -faceted contributions the Philippine delegation is 
making at various levels and in a variety of bodies here at the WTO. The Philippines has rightly 
been aware of the multitude of extra difficulties MSMEs  have to come to terms with in their 
endeavour to access global markets. Difficulties bigger companies either do not have or overcome 
more easily on account of their resources. Switzerland will continue to support the MSMEs initiative 
and display the flexi bility needed to advance the cause of the smaller enterprises as they strive to 
maximize their trade potential.  
4.289.   Having said that, Switzerland would like to encourage the Philippines to become better 
acquainted with the workings of an open market for public  procurement. Government procurement 
makes up a sizeable part of the Philippines' economy. There are a great many efficiency gains to 
be made by bringing a usually opaque market into line with the best practices of a modern and 
outward -looking economy. The se gains would not only give public finances more breathing space 
but also ensure a better allocation of resources when it comes to the tremendous task of 
improving the country's infrastructure. A good way to start for the Philippines would be to become 
an observer to the Agreement on Government Procurement.  
4.290.   One development, which will certainly enhance the competitiveness of all parties involved, 
is the free trade agreement which was concluded between the Philippines and the European Free 
Trade Association  (EFTA) in 2016. The agreement is about to enter into force. It is broad -based 
and covers trade in goods, services, investment, competition policy and aspects of the protection 
of intellectual property rights and government procurement.  
4.291.   In concluding, I wo uld like to wish the Philippine delegation a fruitful continuation of its 
Trade Policy Review.  
URUGUAY  
4.292.   Nuestro país mantiene amistosas y constructivas relaciones con Filipinas en los distintos 
ámbitos de la relación bilateral: tanto en el plano político, económico -comercial, como de 
cooperación y cultura.  
4.293.   Desde el último examen de las políticas comerciales  de Filipinas en el año 2012, el 
relacionamiento político y comercial entre Uruguay y Filipinas se ha fortalecido.  
4.294.   La estrategia de apertura comercial de nuestro país, en aras de establecer y desarrollar 
relaciones comerciales más duraderas y productivas,  nos ha llevado a relacionarnos aún más con 
países miembros de la ASEAN, como es el caso con Filipinas.  
4.295.   Durante el mes de setiembre de 2017, una misión sanitaria de Filipinas visitó nuestro país 
con la intención de analizar las posibilidades de lograr la apertura del mercado filipino a la 
producción uruguaya de cítricos.  
4.296.   Asimismo, Uruguay y Filipinas profundizan su relacionamiento bilateral mediante el 
Acuerdo de Cooperación, Intercambio, y Promoción sobre Agricultura, suscrito entre el WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  Departamento de Agr icultura de Filipinas y el Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca de 
Uruguay.  
4.297.   Con relación al intercambio comercial entre Uruguay y Filipinas, el mismo se ha mantenido 
constante durante los últimos años.  
4.298.   Nuestro país exporta principalmente leche y p roductos lácteos, peletería y confecciones de 
peletería, pieles y cueros, madera y carbón vegetal. Las importaciones a nuestro país desde 
Filipinas se concentran en los siguientes productos: filamentos sintéticos o artificiales, frutos 
comestibles y cítric os, así como maquinas, y aparatos mecánicos.  
4.299.   Uruguay quisiera destacar el Plan de Desarrollo, y el Plan de Prioridades de Inversión de 
Filipinas, que tienen por finalidad ampliar las oportunidades económicas en el sector industrial y de 
servicios, así com o alentar la inversión en sectores específicos para garantizar un crecimiento 
inclusivo y ofrecer oportunidades económicas a un segmento más amplio de la población, 
especialmente a las microempresas y pequeñas y medianas empresas (MIPYME), las mujeres, los  
jóvenes y los grupos vulnerables.  
4.300.   En particular, Uruguay ve con optimismo el fomento de la participación de las 
microempresas y pequeñas y medianas empresas (MIPYME) en la economía filipina, mediante la 
implementación de la Ley Go Negosyo, cuyo objetivo d e reforzar el desarrollo de las MIPYMEs, e 
impulsar la creación de empleo, fue promulgada el 15 de julio de 2014 y entró en vigor el 13 de 
enero de 2015, resultando en la creación centros de negocios en ciudades y municipios para 
ofrecer servicios accesibl es a las MIPYME y simplificar sus transacciones.  
4.301.   Uruguay encomienda la labor que Filipinas realiza en el ámbito del Comité de Coordinación 
del Grupo de Trabajo Informal sobre MIPYMEs, y alienta a dicho país a seguir participando 
activamente para lograr un  resultado positivo en la materia.  
4.302.   Finalmente, quisiéramos reafirmar el interés de seguir trabajando para alcanzar un 
resultado positivo en la CM 12, y proteger el sistema multilateral de comercio basado en normas 
previsibles, transparentes y equilibradas .  
4.303.   Uruguay le desea a Filipinas el mayor de los éxitos en su quinto examen de políticas 
comerciales.  
PAKISTAN  
4.304.   Pakistan and Philippines enjoy very cordial bilateral relations. However, bilateral trade does 
not reflect the true potential existing between our  two countries, and bilateral trade can definitely 
be enhanced. During Fiscal Year 2017, bilateral trade stood at around US$150 million. Pakistan 
exported goods worth US$134.87 million to Philippines while we imported goods worth 
US$16.63  million.  
4.305.   Pakistan is impressed with Philippines economic growth, which has, since its last Trade 
Policy Review in 2012, grown at an average annual rate of about 6%. GDP per capita in 2016 was 
some US$2,950, up from US$2,580 in 2012. The poverty rate declined from 2 5.2% in 2012 to 
21.6% in 2015.  
4.306.   Pakistan has noted that exports Philippines electronics and electrical goods recorded 
significant growth during the review period, accounting for 25.6% of total exports in 2016, up from 
9.6% in 2011. Exports of services and remittances have also experienced fast growth. Imports of 
manufactured goods have increased significantly, from 50% of total imports in 2011 to 76% in 
2016. The United States, the European Union, Japan, China, and ASEAN countries are the 
Philippines' main trading partners.  
4.307.   During the review period, the Government conservative fiscal policy has resulted in the 
decrease of its debt to GDP ratio from 41% in 2012 to 35% in 2016. As regards monetary policy, 
the central bank maintains an inflation -targeting polic y, with the current target set at 3%.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  4.308.   Pakistan commends that over the review period, the Philippines recorded a strong inflow of 
foreign direct investment (FDI) which reached US$7.9 billion in 2016, up from US$1.9 billion in 
2011. The Netherlands, Austral ia, the United States, Japan, and Singapore were the major source 
countries of FDI. More than 60% of FDI was invested in the manufacturing sector.  
4.309.   The Philippines accepted the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement on 27 October 2016; it has 
also submitted a no tification regarding its Category A commitments. Furthermore, Philippines' 
tariffs are ad valorem. The average applied MFN tariff is 7.6%, up from 6.4% in 2011.  
4.310.   Pakistan appreciates that Philippines passed its first Competition Act in 2015 and 
established  a competition authority in 2016.  
4.311.   The legal framework on intellectual property rights has remained basically unchanged. The 
Bureau of Copyrights, established in 2013, is responsible for promoting awareness of IP rights and 
accreditation of organizations t hat collect royalties. Applications and registrations for most types of 
IP have grown strongly during the period under review.  
4.312.   Agriculture and forestry contributes around 10% to GDP. The Philippines ranks among the 
major world producers of bananas, coconut s, pineapples, and rice.  
4.313.   Pakistan has noted that Philippines is a net importer of energy and the cost of energy 
remains high, hindering the development of other sectors. The Government action by issuing a 
National Renewable Energy Programme to encourage t he development of renewable energies is 
commendable.  
4.314.   Manufacturing contributes about 25% to GDP and employs some 8% of the labour force. 
The strongly growing sector mainly comprises: food and beverages, furniture and fixtures, 
electronics, chemicals, petro leum refining, and motor vehicles. Most industries supply mainly the 
domestic market, except the electronics industry whose products are mostly for export.  
4.315.   The services sector contributes some 51% to GDP; the share of financial services remained 
at some 10 % of GDP during the review period. Up to 100% foreign ownership of banks has been 
allowed since June 2014. National treatment has been applied, in terms of regulatory 
requirements, to foreign -owned insurance companies since mid -2013.  
4.316.   The telecommunications  sector in the Philippines is private -sector driven and dominated by 
two companies.  
4.317.   Foreign ownership in telecommunications is not allowed to exceed 40%. Tourism is 
considered to be central to the Philippines' social and economic development: in 2016, the sector 
contributed 8.6% to GDP and 12.8% to employment. During the review period, th e Government 
adopted a number of visa facilitation measures to boost tourist arrivals; it also took steps to 
address infrastructure problems that affect the sector.  
4.318.   Pakistan appreciates the efforts of Philippines Mission in Geneva towards the upholding of  
the principles of multilateralism and the system. We are also appreciative of Philippines efforts in 
creating an Informal Working Group on MSMES at the WTO that is open to all members which will 
continue striving for a multilateral outcome aimed at establ ishing a formal work programme for 
MSMEs at the next Ministerial Conference.  
4.319.   In the end, we want to wish Philippines a very successful and a fruitful TPR.  
  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  5  REPLIES BY THE REPRE SENTATIVE OF THE PHI LIPPINES AND ADDITIO NAL 
COMMENTS  
5.1.  I am pleased to see you al l again today, Ambassador Juan Carlos González and all the 
delegations. On behalf of our Chief WTO Negotiator and Trade Minister, Ramon M. Lopez, let me 
take this opportunity to reiterate the great importance we attach to the TPR Mechanism. It has 
been a t ruly valuable experience and exercise for the Philippines. This, in no small measure, is due 
to the extraordinary dedication and competence of the WTO Secretariat and the very active 
engagement of all Philippine government agencies in the whole process, an d in the insightful 
words of our discussant, Ambassador Stephen de Boer, who set the tone for our very productive 
discussions last Monday.  
5.2.  We thank Members for two things. First, the generosity by which you have acknowledged the 
strong growth of the Philip pine economy during the review period (2012 -2017), the significant 
policy reforms undertaken — involving the amendment of decades -old laws and regulations, and 
the contributions of the Philippines as an active Member of the WTO. We highlight that these 
achievements would have been without meaning, had these not been felt by ordinary Filipinos. But 
accompanying the highest GDP growth of the Philippines in over four decades is a remarkable 
decline in unemployment and in poverty incidence. We shall, however, n ot rest until each and 
everyone benefits from growth.  
5.3.  Second, we are equally appreciative of your questions, requests for clarification, comments 
and suggestions. For instance, one Member said "Few economies in the world are faced with the 
everyday challen ges of interconnecting 7,000 islands. The unusual geographic situation of the 
country means that its economic operators are widely dispersed. They have to make an extra 
effort to engage with their business partners". This comment highlights that what we ha ve taken 
as a given, as we — our people, our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (which accounts for 99% 
of all our businesses) day -in-and-day-out have to first worry about how the materials we need and 
the products we sell can get to the main islands — even before we are able to think of trading with 
the rest of the world. This comment, from a landlocked country, on appreciating the challenges 
faced by an archipelago, highlights the value of the TPR as a mechanism for listening, sharing, 
discussing, and en gaging in a dialogue — valuing each one's perspectives. We all have something 
to contribute. For our 5th Trade Policy Review, the Secretariat report, and Members' contributions 
allowed us to internally reflect on ways to further strengthen the link between  trade openness and 
inclusive growth. In addition to the opportunity for our delegation to be here with you, it is our 
internal discussions in Manila — and our sleepless coordination meetings over the past two days, 
which have also proven to be extremely p roductive.  
5.4.  Members' comments have been very focused, allowing us to group these and provide a 
general response per cluster. The majority of the questions referring to policy reforms go beyond 
WTO obligations and commitments — but are nevertheless consiste nt with the Philippines' 
initiatives, as we have shared in our Opening statement and as I will briefly recall shortly. The 
Administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has not only built on reform initiatives of previous 
Administrations, but has been accele rating and deepening reforms towards inclusive growth.  
5.5.  Allow me now to comment on your questions and clarifications.  
 First, on allowing further foreign participation in economic activities – The Philippines is 
already an open economy with foreign investme nts allowed in a broad range of activities. 
Sectors with restrictions by way of administrative regulations, or legislations, or through 
the Constitution are transparently listed in a Foreign Investment Negative List.  
 
In this particular area, we have emba rked on a three -pronged reform approach:  
 
o A: Limitations which are based on Administrative regulations are being addressed 
through the issuance by the President of Memorandum Order No. 16 (in 
November  2017) directing government agencies to take immediate s teps to lift or ease 
existing restrictions on foreign participation in the eight areas I mentioned last 
Monday.  
 
But allow me to highlight today that there are two key priority investment areas or 
activities where equity restriction is being reviewed relev ant to the success of the WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  Government's infrastructure programme (or the "Build, Build, Build" Programme), 
namely: (1) the review on contracts for the construction and repair of locally -funded 
public works; and (2) on public services, except activities and systems that are 
recognized as public utilities. By giving priority to these two areas, we look forward to 
creating a more liberal investment environment where our "Build, Build, Build" 
Programme would be able to Deliver, Deliver, Deliver at the soonest po ssible time.  
 
o B: In relation to public utilities, we note that most of Members' comments on foreign 
equity restrictions focused on the following sectors: transportation, communication, 
electricity, and water services. We reiterate that at the legislative front, our Cong ress 
has placed utmost priority in amending Commonwealth Act No. 146 otherwise known 
as the Public Service Act (PSA) — a law which was enacted in 1936 (or more than 
80 years ago) and which defined what sectors are considered as Public Utilities. This is 
very important as this amendment based on our Constitution reserves Public Utilities 
only for Filipinos, that is foreign equity on public utilities are not to exceed 40%.  
 
Through this amendment, our Congress will be able to provide a clear definition of 
public utility to cover only three sectors: distribution of electricity; transmission of 
electricity and water pipeline distribution system or sewerage pipeline. This means that 
all other sectors  in transportation (land, water and air), communication, electr icity, 
and water services — will be opened to even 100% foreign ownership.  
 
o And C, along parallel lines, a Constitutional Review Committee has been created by the 
President with the urgent task of reviewing, among others, the economic provisions 
which at t he present reserves remaining certain activities to Filipino citizens. The 
intention is to create a window for these activities to be liberalized thru legislation.  
 
 Second cluster of your comments, the Philippines noted the encouragement of some 
Members to join or to be an Observer in the plurilateral Government Procurement 
Agreement (GPA). Even as we are still currently studying and considering Observership, 
the Phil ippines is continuously building our capacity for understanding the GPA. Our 
officials have actively participated in regional and WTO -based workshops on the GPA; and, 
this April, we will host in Manila the first national workshop on government procurement 
through the assistance of the WTO Secretariat.  
 
 Third, on intellectual property rights, through the member agencies of the National 
Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, the Philippines continues to adopt holistic and 
concerted efforts to strengthen IP protection and enforcement, while at the same time 
maintaining the delicate balance between the rights of IP holders and the public in general.  
 
The Philippines will sustain the momentum of intellectual property rights enforcement 
reforms, and have mad e great strides as we continue to lead efforts to improve IPR 
enforcement in the ASEAN (we are Asean's Country -Champion for IPR Enforcement; and 
we Chair the ASEAN Network of IPR Enforcement Experts). Now, to address on -line and 
digital piracy, the Philipp ines amended its intellectual property law in 2013 to provide for 
the liability of entities benefitting from copyright infringement, such as on -line 
intermediaries. A review of the IP Code is also currently being undertaken, including a 
proposal for a "notice and takedown" provision to provide expeditious remedies against 
on-line infringement.  
 
And, to facilitate the expeditious resolution and adjudication of intellectual property rights 
cases, we have been regularly holding roundtable discussions with jud ges of the Special 
Commercial Courts and Justices of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. In 
partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the 
American Bar Association -Rule of Law Initiative, the "Manual on Inve stigation and 
Prosecution of IP Cases" has been revised and updated in order to streamline the 
investigation and prosecution of IP cases by law enforcement agencies, and ensure 
effective IPR enforcement.  
 
 Fourth, on tariffs, we would like to clarify that there were no major changes on tariff rates 
during the review period. From 2011 to 2017, the main MFN tariff policy instruments 
issued were Executive Order No. 61 series of 2011 — which laid down the MFN tariff WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  structure from 2011 to 2016, and Executive Or der No. 20 series of 2017 — which set the 
MFN tariff structure from 2017 to 2020. The Philippines would like to emphasize that the 
reported increase in average applied MFN tariff is mainly attributed to an increase in the 
number of our tariff lines, from 8 ,299 in 2011 to 9,599 in 2014 and to 10,813 in 2017, as 
a result of the transpositions of the Harmonized System (HS) and the ASEAN Harmonized 
Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) from 2007 to 2012 to 2017. An example of this is the increase 
in tariff lines of HS Cha pter 87 from 331 lines in 2011 to 932 lines in 2017.  
 
 Fifth, the Philippines also notes the views on agriculture, particularly on compliance with 
notification obligations, on rice tariffication, on valuation, and on meat handling 
requirements. Let me comme nt on each:  
 
o We recently submitted (and these were already published by the WTO) all our 
domestic support notifications, and all our agriculture notification obligations have 
been settled covering the period up to 2015. We will continue to ensure that our 
measures are consistent with obligations and all notifications are updated.  
 
o On the tariffication of the rice quantitative restrictions through the amendment of 
the Agricultural Tariffication Act, I wish to highlight that it is a priority of the 
Philippine s.  
 
o On meat handling requirements, let me assure Members that the Philippines 
adopted technical regulations anchored on internationally accepted standards and 
verifiable scientific studies. It is therefore worth noting that the World Organization 
for Anim al Health has recognized the Philippines as an FMD -free country not 
practicing vaccination and we are committed to protect our consumers and 
livestock sector, thus risk assessment measures are important.  
 
o The Philippines also strictly observes the WTO Cus toms Valuation Agreement and 
does not apply reference prices. If there are test values that the Bureau of 
Customs publishes, these are used strictly as a risk management tool. Test value 
range shall be used as basis to cast doubt as to the truthfulness or accuracy of a 
given value declaration, which in turn may trigger a valuation query on the 
applicability of the method of valuation used by the importer. It should be made 
clear that the Bureau of Customs does not use the values in their database as 
substit ute for the declared transaction values. The value information database is 
used merely for testing the validity of an importer 's value declaration. Should an 
importer disagree with the assessed value, there is a clear process for filing a 
protest against t he valuation to the Bureau of Customs Commissioner as provided 
under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.  
 
But having clarified this, let me further inform Members that our relevant 
authorities are closely coordinating with stakeholders — particularly  meat 
importers, to promote a better understanding of the process and ensure efficient 
flow of products.  
 
5.6.  Allow us to share that the Philippines will continue to improve the business environment, 
foster transparency and eliminate laws that place a heavy re gulatory burden on businesses. To cut 
red tape, the "Project Repeal " was launched in March 2016 and, to date, three repeal days have 
been conducted where an aggregate of 4,837 policy issuances were reviewed with a view to 
repealing outdated rules and there fore reducing the time and cost of doing business.  
5.7.  Moreover, an enhanced automated National Single Window called the TradeNet system is 
being prepared for live operation by the middle of 2018. TradeNet will allow traders to lodge 
information and documents  to fulfil all import, export and transit -related regulatory requirements.  
5.8.  But what is generating excitement as it will no doubt prove to be a game -changer, is that 
both Houses of Congress have passed the Expanded Anti -Red Tape Act and this is now with the  
Office of the President for consideration and signing. This bill covers all agencies — local and 
national — issuing permits and licences, and mandates specific shortened processing periods for 
categories of permits and license. Failure to approve within t he prescribed timelines will mean 
automatic approval; and, for the erring official, a 6 -month suspension without pay on first offense, WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  and, on second offense, disqualification from public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits, fine of 
between PHP 500,0 00 (or about US$10,000) to PHP 2,000,000, and imprisonment of one to six 
years.  
5.9.  Allow me to summarize our responses at this point by highlighting that we are 
(1) accelerating and deepening policy reforms started in past administrations towards greater 
liberalization; (2) enhancing the continuous effective implementation of obligations and 
enforcement of rules; and (3) ensuring an environment where it is easy to do business, devoid of 
any red -tape.  
5.10.   Once again, we would like to thank Members not only for re cognizing the tremendous 
progress achieved by the Philippines since the last TPR; but also your constructive insights and 
optimism on the great opportunities that lie ahead.  
5.11.   We take great pride in the explicit recognition by Members that Philippines is a r esponsible, 
responsive, and active WTO Member, with significant contributions in keeping the WTO relevant 
and effective, not just in advocating for a development -oriented MSME -centered agenda but also 
by keeping our economy open and resisting protectionist  and inward looking policies.  
5.12.   The Philippines is the first Member to adopt the alternative timeline for the TPR and we 
continually benefit immensely from this. It has been a very enriching experience for us to answer 
the 333 questions received even before  our delegation arrived here. On the additional questions 
received, we will be responding soon. I wish to thank everyone for your interest and participation 
today and last Monday; and especially for the warm welcome given to me and the Philippine 
delegatio n whose hard work (by each and every member government agency) made possible the 
positive presentation today.  
5.13.   Allow me to also take this opportunity to thank our outgoing TPRB Chairperson, Ambassador 
Juan Carlos González, for his very capable chairmanship  of our TPR, and for successfully heading 
this Committee in the past year. We owe a deep amount of gratitude to Colombia, especially as 
Ambassador González' compatriot, Ambassador Eduardo Mu ñoz Gómez , chaired the meeting 
during the Philippines ' Fourth TPR in 2012.  
5.14.   We are likewise grateful for the warm welcome extended by Members to our 
Ambassador -designate, Ambassador Manuel Teehankee. In behalf of the Government of the 
Republic of the Philippines, we reiterate our commitment to continue to be actively engaged in 
ensuring that, through the WTO, we realize a sustainably growing global economy where no one is 
left behind.  
5.15.   Thank you.  
DISCUSSANT  
5.16.   Let me begin by thanking Undersecretary Rodolfo and his team for the detailed statement 
delivered this morning and for following -up on the points raised on Day 1.  
5.17.   I also listened closely to the Members that took the floor on Monday and I thank them for 
enhancing the trade policy review process and for their substantive and thoughtful contributions. 
With 34 interventions and 330 written questions, WTO Members have demonstrated a keen 
interest in the economic and trade regimes of the Philippines, while simul taneously supporting the 
transparency function of the WTO. I trust this process has been useful for the Philippines and I 
hope this has provided the delegation here with some concrete ideas to bring back to Manila.  
5.18.   I appreciate the opportunity to share a few reflections today before we conclude the 
Philippines 5th Trade Policy Review.  
5.19.   One cross -cutting theme that came out clearly for me throughout the course of Monday was 
the Philippines' commitment to institutions, both in terms of their participation in  regional 
organizations such as APEC and ASEAN, as well as here at the WTO. And the Philippines' 
commitment to the WTO is demonstrated concretely this week through their participation in this WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
- 46 - 
 
  TPR process, including the adoption of the alternative timelines  and the timely provision of 
responses to Members advanced written questions.  
5.20.   A second common theme was the Philippines' strong economic performance over the last 
few years, registering strong GDP growth combined with poverty and debt reduction. Members 
also praised the Philippines' robust reform agenda – including in areas such as tax, customs, and 
competition policy.  
5.21.   At the same time, however, there were a number of areas commonly identified by Members 
as needing further reform by the Philippines. Permit  me to briefly outline these.  
5.22.   First, as I mentioned on Monday, agriculture policy continues to be a challenge for the 
Philippines. Members pointed to a range of trade policy issues to be addressed, including but not 
limited to: up -to-date notifications fo r domestic support and export subsidies, high tariff rates, 
particularly for rice, corn, and sugar; the use of reference prices; issues with TRQ administration; 
certain export restrictions; and the elimination of quantitative restrictions and the tariffica tion of 
rice. Traders also continue to struggle with the Philippines' SPS regime.  
5.23.   Government procurement was highlighted by a large number of delegations as an area that 
continues to be heavily restricted to foreign participation. I join other Members in encouraging the 
Philippines to consider becoming an observer to the GPA. And I am pleased that Undersecretary 
Rodolfo has addressed this in his remarks this morning.  
5.24.   Finally, despite the reforms undertaken during the review period, the Philippines' abilit y to 
attract investment from abroad remains constrained by restrictions to foreign participation in many 
sectors. It is encouraging to hear plans to further liberalize foreign direct investment, as this could 
assist the Philippines in raising the necessary  capital to address infrastructure challenges.  
5.25.   Undersecretary Rodolfo has provided some details this morning elaborating on the steps the 
administration plans to take to address these and other issues and I am sure Members will 
continue to closely monitor developments in these areas. I encourage the Philippines to stay on 
the path of reform and progressive market opening in the coming years.  
5.26.   The Philippines has made great steps forward during the period under review and I look 
forward to seeing the progress  achieved by the time of their next Trade Policy Review.  
5.27.   In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the Philippines on a successful Trade Policy 
Review. It was an honour and a pleasure serving as your discussant. Thank you.  
EUROPEAN  UNION  
5.28.   The EU noted th e considerable interest in the TPR of the Philippines and Members' wide 
appreciation for its achievements in today's challenging environment regarding the multilateral 
trading system. In particular, the EU acknowledges the Philippines strong commitment to this TPR 
and to the WTO in general.  
5.29.   From the proceedings of these two days, the EU reiterates its appreciation for the reforms 
taken since the last TPR in 2012, notably some of the legislation, including competition, customs, 
services, tax and so on.  
5.30.   Movin g forward, the EU encourages the Philippines to continue the reforms and hopes that 
the TPR comments from the EU and other trade partners will support further legislative and 
executive decisions that will facilitate and liberalize trade and investment. In particular, as also 
underlined by the majority of the Members who took the floor on Monday, the EU encourages the 
Philippines to consider revising its investment restrictions as proposed by the President and 
ongoing initiatives in Congress (such as amendin g the Public Services Act); and to further 
liberalize and rationalize procurement rules also by considering joining the GPA. We take good 
note of the statement made this morning in regard of many of those aspects just highlighted.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  5.31.   The EU would also like to  thank very much the delegation of the Philippines for the 
responses received to our advance questions and for the additional information provided on 
Monday and today regarding the questions we put forward on the first day in our statement.  
5.32.   However, as som e of the EU initial questions were only partially replied and few of them still 
outstanding, the EU has submitted some follow -up questions covering notably investment regime, 
customs procedures and other charges affecting imports, standards and technical r egulations and 
government procurement. We look forward to receiving detailed replies and replies to our 
unanswered questions in due time.  
5.33.   The EU is confident that this TPR will help the Philippines in continuing its reforms' process, 
while respecting its international commitments.  
5.34.   Finally, we would like to thank the whole delegation of the Philippines for their constructive 
participation in this exercise. And, as a final note, thank you also to you, Mr. Chairman, as this is 
your last meeting, for all the w ork you have done during this past year.  
THE SEPARATE  CUSTOMS  TERRITORY  OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN  AND  MATSU  
5.35.   Let me first to thank the departing Chair, Ambassador Mr. Juan Carlos González, for the 
leadership on chairing the Trade Policy Review Body over the  past 12 months.  
5.36.   My delegation wishes to thank the delegation of the Philippines for its contribution to this 
morning's meeting and the exercise taking place this week which has been under preparation for 
several months.  
5.37.   We also express our appreciation an d satisfaction of the oral and written responses provided 
by the Philippines delegation, especially on the topics of intellectual property right and government 
procurement.  
5.38.   We acknowledge that many Members reaffirmed the active role played by the Philippin es in 
our collective work to promote MSMES. As an old saying goes, action speaks louder than words. 
We encourage Members to work together to translate words into actions to deliver meaningful 
results for strengthening MSMEs' capability on Global Trade.  
5.39.   My delegation will also actively participate in the workshop - Consideration of how technical 
assistance and capacity building initiatives could take into account the trade needs and challenges 
of MSMEs which will be co -chaired by El Salvador and Philippines on 2 October.  
5.40.   My delegation also points out that fossil fuel subsidy reform will be an area of increasing 
importance for Members in the future. We echo the New Zealand's statement last Monday and 
recognize the Philippines has completed an APEC peer review in 2016 in this regard.  
5.41.   We hope that this Trade Policy Review will have been an opportunity for the Philippines to 
gather useful comments, and for the other Members to better understand its trade policy and 
measures.  
5.42.   Today is the end of the trade policy re view but tomorrow will be the beginning of moving 
towards reforms in trade and economy liberalization.  
5.43.   Finally, we hope H.E. Dr. Ceferino S. Rodolfo and his delegation a safe trip to Manila.  
UNITED  STATES  
5.44.   On behalf of the United States I would like to than k the members of the Philippines 
delegation for their time and effort that they invested in preparing for and carrying out this trade 
policy review. The United States also appreciates the work carried out by the Secretariat in 
preparing the reports which m ade this review possible.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  5.45.   We also appreciate the efforts that the Philippines made in dedicating the time to providing 
written responses to the many questions we have posed during this review. And today I only have 
a few follow -up questions.  
5.46.   Again, we expr ess our appreciation for all of the hard work that went into this review and 
congratulate the Philippines on a successful TPR.  
H.E.  DR CEFERINO  RODOLFO  (HEAD  OF DELEGATION)  
5.47.   We wholeheartedly thank Ambassador de Boer for again a very insightful statement al ong 
with the statements of the other Members who have spoken today.  
5.48.   We note that there are follow -up questions; we will closely coordinate with the relevant 
delegations and with the WTO Secretariat in providing additional replies in the level of detail bei ng 
requested. Thank you.  
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  6  CONCLUDING REMARKS B Y THE CHAIRPERSON  
6.1.  This fifth Trade Policy Review of the Philippines has offered us an excellent opportunity to 
deepen our understanding of the trade, economic, and investment policies of the Philippines. More 
than 300 questions from 22 Members were submitted to the Philippines before the meeting, which 
underlines the importance Members attached to this Review. I would like to thank the delegation 
of the Philippines, led by H.E. Dr. Ceferino Rodolfo, Undersecret ary of Trade and Industry, the 
discussant, H.E. Ambassador Stephen de Boer of Canada, and the 34 delegations that took the 
floor for their valuable contributions to this Review.  
6.2.  Members praised the Philippines for its strong commitment to preserve and str engthen the 
multilateral trading system, and its active role to advance the negotiations in areas such as 
fisheries subsidies. Members also recognized the Philippines' contribution in promoting the work in 
the WTO on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MS MEs). Many Members welcomed the 
Philippines' ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the related notifications of Category 
A, B and C commitments, as well as the implementation of its ITA expansion commitments. Some 
Members also expressed appr eciation that the Philippines had made use of the alternative 
timelines for its TPR, thus enhancing the transparency of the process.  
6.3.  Members commended the Philippines' impressive economic performance since its last TPR in 
2012. Real GDP had grown at an ave rage annual rate of about 6% in 2012 -17, per -capita GDP had 
increased, and poverty declined. Trade played an important role in this review period, which was 
marked by strong growth of manufactured exports, in particular of electronics and electrical goods,  
as well as by buoyant exports of services. Several Members observed that, despite increased 
infrastructure investment, substantial gaps remained and foreign participation in infrastructure 
development was hindered by FDI restrictions, notably in utility p rojects.  
6.4.  Members applauded the policy reforms undertaken by the Philippines during the review 
period, including in the area of investment, customs, competition, intellectual property, and 
government procurement. Nonetheless, it was also noted that further  domestic reforms in areas 
such as investment and government procurement were needed to enhance the competitiveness of 
the economy and attract foreign investment. Some Members raised concerns over market access 
conditions for foreign suppliers in public pr ocurement and encouraged the Philippines to improve 
them. Some Members encouraged the Philippines to consider joining the WTO Plurilateral 
Agreement on Government Procurement.  
6.5.  Members welcomed the improvements in the Philippines' foreign investment regime , such as 
allowing 100% foreign ownership in the banking sector and liberalizing access to certain 
professional services. However, as indicated in numerous advance written questions and 
interventions, caps on foreign direct investment in some sectors or ac tivities remained a concern. 
Questions were also raised regarding what some Members considered to be high capital 
requirements for foreign investment in the retail business. I am pleased to learn from Dr. Rodolfo's 
introductory statement that further refor ms of the FDI regime are underway, which he also 
expanded in detail today. Government agencies have been directed to take immediate steps to lift 
or ease existing restrictions in 8 sectors or activities, including the practice of particular 
professions, pu blic works, certain public services, and retail trade. Furthermore, an amendment of 
the legislation regarding FDI in public utilities is under consideration and a Constitutional Review 
Commission has been set up to address the constitutional limitations on  FDI.  
6.6.  Members welcomed the implementation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act aimed at 
streamlining customs rules and procedures. Yet, several Members expressed reservations 
regarding the pre -shipment inspection requirements. Some Members recogniz ed the efforts made 
to combat corruption in customs services. However, it was noted that there was room for 
improvement of the business environment, including by reducing the complexity of the 
permit/licensing regime in certain sectors.  
6.7.  Members noted the i ncrease in the average applied MFN tariff rate from 6.4% to 7.6% during 
the review period; the high share of nuisance tariffs of about 14.9% of tariff lines in 2017; and the 
increased share of tariff peaks (8.5%). Some Members invited the Philippines to co nsider reducing 
high tariffs, particularly on agricultural products and automobiles. Some Members encouraged the WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  Philippines to expand the coverage of its tariff binding commitments currently at 63.7% of tariff 
lines.  
6.8.  Members welcomed the improvement of i ntellectual property rights (IPRs) protection, 
including the establishment of the Bureau of Copyrights. However, several Members raised 
concerns regarding IPR enforcement measures including those against counterfeit pharmaceuticals 
and other products, and online piracy.  
6.9.  A number of Members sought further clarification from the Philippines concerning the general 
direction of the agricultural reform process, in particular with regard to steps taken to reform the 
import regime and the high level of support fo r rice. The representative of the Philippines stated 
that passage of legislation to remove the quantitative restrictions on rice was a priority. In the 
meantime, the reduced MFN tariff rates on rice and other agricultural products had been extended. 
Other matters of concern raised by Members included use of reference prices in assessing customs 
duties on agricultural products, and export restrictions on rice, corn and sugar.  
6.10.   While Members acknowledged the recent reforms of the food safety regime, a number o f 
SPS related concerns were raised inter alia on: regulations for handling imported meat and issues 
in exporting bovine meat for sale on wet markets; SPS requirements that were not aligned with 
international standards; accreditation of export establishment s; and certain labelling requirements 
that were considered to be excessive.  
6.11.   On services, the delegation of the Philippines informed Members that it had permitted 
international relays through co -loading of shipments on foreign vessels to enhance competition in 
maritime transport. The Philippines was encouraged to liberalize its regime reserving certain cargo 
to be shipped by Philippines' flag vessels, and also to review foreign equity limitations in 
telecommunications.  
6.12.   While appreciating that the Philippines had submitted more than 300 notifications during the 
review period, Members encouraged it to submit outstanding notifications, notably up -to-date 
notifications on agriculture.  
6.13.   In conclusion, Members welcomed the Philippines' unwavering commitm ent to the 
multilateral trading system and the trade policy reforms undertaken since the last Review. At the 
same time, while recognizing the advances made in the following areas, Members noted that 
several concerns remain regarding restrictions on FDI, ce rtain SPS measures, and the high level of 
support for rice. I am certain that the Philippines will reflect on the many constructive comments 
that it has received during this Review. I would like to thank again the Philippines delegation for its 
commitment to this exercise and look forward to receiving the answers to any outstanding 
questions within the next month, at which point this Review will be successfully concluded.  
  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  7  ELECTION OF A NEW CH AIRPERSON OF THE TPR B 
7.1.  As indicated in my remarks on Monday, we h ave a second agenda item for today. We now 
move to the election of the Chairperson for the TPRB for 2018. At its meeting on 7 March 2018, 
the General Council noted the consensus on the slate of names of Chairpersons for WTO bodies, 
including the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin, H.E. Ambassador Eloi Laourou as 
the Chairperson of the Trade Policy Review Body.  
7.2.  In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of this body, I have the pleasure to propose that 
Members of the Trade Policy Review Body el ect, by acclamation, H.E. Ambassador Laourou as the 
Chairperson for 2018.   
7.3.  It is so agreed [gavel]. Thank you. I would suggest that Members of the TPRB confirm their 
support for his election with a round of applause.  
7.4.  Now, I would like to invite Ambassador  Laourou to join me in the podium.  
7.5.  As I handover the gavel and wish Ambassador Laourou every success in the year ahead, I 
would like to thank Members for entrusting me with the work of the TPRB and allowing me to 
serve you in this capacity during the last 12 months. Please allow me to share some personal 
thoughts from this experience after the 15 TPRs covering the trade policies of 50 Members, 
counting EU Member States separately, that took place since May 2017.  
7.6.  During this period, I have witnessed the vit ality of the TPRB as one of the backbones of the 
transparency pillar of this Organization at times when the negotiating and dispute settlement 
functions are facing some challenges. The high level participation of Members under review and 
their engagement t hroughout the process, the important number of delegations participating in all 
deliberations, and the dedication of every Ambassador that contributed to the meetings as 
discussants in their personal capacity attest to the commitment of Members to contribu te to an 
open, transparent and predictable trading system through the very constructive peer review 
exercise embodied in the TPRM.  
7.7.  I wish to thank the Secretariat's team for their support and the tremendous efforts they put 
into preparing the reports that facilitate our work. As a former government representative involved 
in the day to day task of trade and investment promotion, I have found that the high quality of the 
information provided is very useful not just to policy makers and government officials, but also to 
any company or individual interested in understanding a new market and venturing into new 
businesses. As counting with timely and precise information has turned increasingly important to 
trade and invest, and access to information has become ev er easier through different IT platforms 
and networks, the TPRM offers an opportunity to bring the WTO closer to societies, not just as a 
tool for accountability, but also as a means to signal to individuals and companies where to find 
opportunities as Mem bers indicate their aspirations and plans for the future.  
7.8.  As we look forward, there will be opportunities to continue to strengthen the TPRM as a 
transparency mechanism for the benefit of the Membership as a whole and the Members under 
review. For instanc e, the ongoing implementation of the on -line Questions and Answers system 
should facilitate and expedite the process. Also, the increasing number of reviews conducted under 
the alternative timeline, from 13% in 2016, to 33% in 2017, and 50% for all of 2018  will provide 
more time for Members to receive and analyse the answers. Furthermore, in 2018, more 
informative follow up workshops will be conducted by the Secretariat at the request of the 
reviewed Members to undertake a deeper analysis of the feedback re ceived and further 
disseminate the outcome of the reviews. This is also an opportunity for developing countries to 
consider when assessing technical assistance and capacity building needs.  
7.9.  On the other hand, in some cases, as grouped reviews provide for ec onomies of scale for 
Members and the Secretariat, they also offer a challenge so as to not miss the opportunity for 
every Member to receive adequate feedback and to undergo effective follow up to the questions 
and answers provided. Also, as the Amendment o f the TPRM extending the review periods will 
enter into effect in 2019, the occasion of the presentation of the Trade Monitoring Reports should 
provide an opportunity for Members to make updates on relevant policy changes as they wish, as 
it was agreed dur ing the last Appraisal of the TPRM.  WT/TPR/W/146  • The Philippines  
 
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  7.10.   I would like again to sincerely thank everyone for your confidence and cooperation during 
the past year, and I now hand over to Ambassador Laourou.  
H.E.  MR. ELOI  LAOUROU  
7.11.   Good morning to everybody: Mr Chairman, dear frie nd and colleague, Ambassador 
González, "amigo mío"; Excellencies Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives; H.E. Dr. Ceferino 
Rodolfo, Head of the delegation of the Philippines, welcome to Geneva, you and your entire 
delegation; distinguished experts; ladies and gentlemen.  
7.12.   Mr. Chairman, thank you sincerely for the kind words you extended to me, I appreciate this 
highly. Congratulations to you also for the hard work you did during your mandate, which has 
been intense and fruitful. We have just heard about the r esults and we are very appreciative to 
you for that.  
7.13.   Let me also seize this opportunity to express my deep and sincere gratitude to the WTO 
Members for the confidence they placed in me in electing me as the Chair of the TPRB for the year 
2018.  
7.14.   Finally, I would like to reiterate our congratulations to the Philippines for their successful 
TPR that has just been concluded. I wish good continuation and success to the Philippines in their 
efforts and initiative for promoting trade and development.  
7.15.   With these wo rds, unless there is a request from the floor, I would like to declare the 
meeting closed.  
I look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting on 11 April when the TPRB will review 
Montenegro's trade policies.  
 
 
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