ISDS Case Map
Philippines
The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines says its sector will suffer greatly as tariffs on farm goods fall in line with the implementation of the ASEAN FTA.
Taiwan-based factories employing Filipinos may move operations to mainland China once the trade pact between China and Taiwan is signed. The Philippines should therefore sign an FTA with Taiwan to tap into the Beijing-Taipei deal, some argue.
Negotiators of the Partnership Cooperation Agreement, who met for a fourth time last week, had nothing to report about the controversial matter of human rights
The tuna ban is not meant to preserve tuna stocks in West and Central Pacific, but to dislodge fishing companies from Third World countries from their tuna fishing grounds and allow the tuna fleets of the European Union and Japan to take over these tuna-rich fishing areas.
"The Philippines has not so far signaled its readiness to engage in this way," EU Ambassador Alistair MacDonald said, referring to plans to forge bilateral trade pacts after attempts to broker a broader agreement with the 10-member ASEAN hit a roadblock early last year.
The Philippines might lose an opportunity to get first crack at negotiating a bilateral trade deal with the European Union as three Southeast Asian neighbors are already in line.
The propaganda mills, especially in Beijing, have been trumpeting the FTA as bringing “mutual benefits” to China and Asean. The reality, however, is that most of the advantages will probably flow to China, writes Walden Bello.
Recruitment agencies caution the Philippine government in signing free-trade agreements with developed countries because they will only result in further job losses for local workers
Philippine elections pose uncertainty in the regional tariff regime, with neighbors wondering whether the new government next year can live up to its free-trade commitments with member-countrie
A group of 75,000 automotive industry workers has slammed the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry for lack of earnest efforts to negotiate a delay in the tariff elimination of imported vehicles under the signed Japan Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
