ISDS Case Map
Philippines
Ambitious free trade agreements in the Philippines would pose serious threats to access to medicines for the poor by providing greater patent rights to pharmaceutical companies, the EU-ASEAN Campaign Network said Tuesday ahead of an international meeting of pharmaceutical companies in Manila.
An agreement that will spur further talks on a possible trade arrangement between the Philippines and the four-member European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is expected to be signed in June
A Philippine government delegation recently met with a top official of the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to explore Manila's possible participation in a new free trade area that Washington is pushing among Asia-Pacific countries.
The British government would like the proposed EU-Philippines free trade agreement to be a comprehensive one with very few exceptions.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is eyeing to forge a free trade agreement with Hong Kong, which is seen to benefit the Philippines significantly, according to Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo.
While the Philippine fisheries sector is generally seen as competitive under the proposed free trade agreement with the European Union, exporters said the government should still provide small fishermen with “safety nets” from stiffer competition.
"The Philippines should not just enter into a deal out of fear of being left out," Alfredo M. Yao, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says.
The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday warned the Aquino administration against entering into a bilateral free trade agreement with the European Union, saying the forging of such an agreement will lead to the flooding of imported fish from EU member-states.
Officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will hold talks with their US counterparts within the next two months in a last-minute bid to join discussions for a free-trade area (FTA) in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the likelihood of a free-trade agreement between the Philippines and European Union, big processors, exporters of fish and the fish consumers in general will be the gainers while small-scale fishermen, small-scale fish processors and marketing agents, including women, will be among the losers, PIDS said in a report issued recently.
