DTI beefs up export complaints body

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is beefing up the Export Trade Complaints Committee (ETCC) to ensure the competitiveness of local exporters.

The ETCC is an inter-agency body created to recommend specific action on export trade complaints filed with the DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP).

The DTI is concerned that unresolved complaints from foreign buyers affect the image of the Philippines as a reliable source of commodities and products.

DTI wants to make sure that the ETCC is able to quickly resolve export and trade cases to maintain and enhance the capabilities of Filipino exporters as reliable suppliers of quality goods.

The ETCC, for its part, assures that it is "deeply committed and very persistent in pursuing export trade cases."

The ETCC explained that exporters and buyers have an avenue through which their complaints can be heard.

The ETCC ensures that both parties can be protected from unfair business practices such as non-payment of deliveries, defaults on deliveries of paid orders, non-compliance to ordered product specifications, undue cancellation orders and the like.

The ETCC was able to resolve 24 export cases last year involving various cases such as non-payment specifications and cancellation of orders.

The ETCC revealed that in most cases, complaints were either amicably resolved and accounts were settled.

Parties which are found guilty, the ETCC said are placed on a watchlist.

Those placed on the watchlist will not be entitle to future assistance from the DTI and its attached agencies.

The guilty parties will also not be able to avail of fiscal incentives from the government and will be banned from participating in local and international trade fairs and exhibits.

The Credit Information Bureau, Inc. (CIBI), which is an ETCC member, would also issue a negative advice on the credit standing of a company found guilty of unfair business practices.

The ETCC is composed of members coming from the BETP, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, the CIBI, trade associations and business organizations.

Supreme Court-accredited mediators from the Export Trade Facilitation division of BETP assist the ETCC in doing investigative work.