Government urged to defer Asean tariff scheme

Industrialist Raul T. Concepcion is urging the government to seek a six to 12-month postponement of the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) to allow government to come up with a definitive list of industries which need continued tariff protection.

Concepcion said that following the government’s decision to go slow on tariff liberalization upon the request of the local petrochem industry, a number of other industries are now clamoring for the same protection.

The Philippines has officially informed the AFTA council of its intention to delay the liberalization of the petrochem sector.

Under AFTA rules, countries may seek to temporarily opt out of their commitments in sectors which they feel are not prepared to face foreign competition.

Malaysia was the first member to invoke the mechanism to allow it to delay opening up its auto market.

"Local industry representatives created an uproar last Friday during the hearing conducted by the Tariff Commission to review the various request of the industry sector for continued tariff protection," Concepcion said.

Earlier, Malacanang instructed the Tariff Commission, the Department of Trade and Industry and the National Economic and Development Authority to conduct the review.

"Other industry sectors which had earlier prepared themselves for the effectivity of the CEPT-AFTA, now feel that they should also get some form of tariff protection," Concepcion said.

"With the reversal in policy, government would have to basically re-write its tariff code," he added.

Earlier, defending the government’s move to delay the opening up of the petrochem industry, Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said that " the country remains committed to AFTA and within AFTA certain protocols are available for countries such as the Philippines to defer the submission of certain tariff lines into the inclusion list."