ARISE Plus Philippines launched the business guidebook aimed to help improve the Philippines’ access to the European Union (EU) market and utilize the EU Generalized Systems of Preferences (EU -GSP+) scheme.

The guidebook provides technical and regulatory requirements to be completed within the Philippines to export to the EU, and measures to meet to cross the EU border.

Under the EU GSP+ scheme, the Philippines enjoys duty-free access for products across around 66% of all EU tariff lines. Among the top GSP+ exports of the country are agricultural goods like coconut oil, tuna, and pineapples as well as electronic goods like vacuum cleaners and pneumatic tires.The Philippines and the EU share a total of EUR 18.4 Billion in bilateral trade in goods.
The Philippines’ EU GSP+ program will formally expire at the end of 2023. Current GSP+ beneficiaries would likely have a two-year transition to reapply starting in 2024 under the new regulations. The GSP Regulation stipulates that to comply, the country must ratify and successfully implement 27 international treaties on labor, environmental, and human rights.

Nonetheless, there are common challenges encountered when exporting to the EU under the GSP scheme. There is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the operation of preferential market access offered to traders in the EU market through GSP schemes, as well as compliance with the EU market’s high technical and regulatory criteria. As a result, the guidebook’s publication is a first step in disseminating the benefits of the EU GSP+ system to exporters.

The Business Guide Book launching was held at the Makati Diamond Residences on 25 July 2023, headed by the ARISE PLUS Philippines delegation and the Department of Trade and Industry Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB). AGPM