Philippines begins study for FTA with EU
Tax News | 31 July 2012
Philippines begins study for FTA with EU
by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong
As part of the European Commission’s developing negotiations towards trade treaties with the individual ten countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines has begun a study into a possible free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU).
The recent signing of a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the Philippines, the text of which had been completed in mid-2010, has been seen as the forerunner of FTA discussions.
However, the Philippine government has always stated that it will not be ready for FTA negotiations until domestic consultations are concluded after the completion of the study, which is being undertaken by Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
It is expected that the PIDS study into the benefits of an FTA will be completed by the end of August this year, to be followed by extensive consultations with interested stakeholders in the country. Nevertheless, it is still hoped that preliminary FTA talks could begin sometime before the end of 2012.
