EDITORIAL -Opening markets

The competitiveness of the agriculture sector has always been a top concern in all trade liberalization agreements entered into by the Philippines. It has been the same in the debate on whether the country should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

RCEP proponents stress that the trade agreement excludes from tariff liberalization sensitive agricultural products that suffer from imported competition, among them rice, sugar, corn, coffee, onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, swine and poultry meats. Among the non-agricultural products that are also excluded from RCEP are cement and flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel.

On the other hand, proponents point out that the Philippines will find wider markets for its top agricultural exports such as banana, pineapple, coconut-based items and tuna, and other export products such as papaya and durian. Both the current and incoming secretaries of the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the outgoing socioeconomic planning chief are raising these points as they urge the Senate to give its concurrence to President Duterte’s ratification last year of the RCEP agreement.

Opponents of the deal are raising concern that the country is not competitive enough to join RCEP, which groups the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with trading partners China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. This is a sad indictment of the Philippines’ standing in ASEAN.

Those pushing for RCEP argue that on the contrary, the lowering of tariffs will make Philippine exports more competitive. RCEP covers 228 commodities, of which only 15 are agricultural. Tariffs will be lowered on raw materials needed for manufacturing and even on inputs for agricultural production.

The state-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies estimated last December that participation in RCEP would boost the country’s overall exports by 10.47 percent and contribute an increase of 2.02 percent in real gross domestic product. These are critical as the country moves to recover from its worst economic contraction since World War II.

RCEP proponents are warning that delaying final approval of the agreement could see the country left behind by its neighbors notably Vietnam, starting with the sourcing of goods that are already affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The debate, however, has also highlighted the long-running concerns of the agriculture sector, which the incoming administration will have to decisively address.