SENATOR Loren B. Legarda formally submitted notice of the Philippine ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the four-country European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
“We need to sustain and forge new economic partnerships with other countries in order to provide Filipino products, skills, and talents the kind of access and attention in the global market that they deserve,” Ms. Legarda said in a statement accompanying the filing, which took place at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.
EFTA member states are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
The Senate agreed to ratify the FTI on March 5.
Ms. Legarda, who chairs the Senate committee on foreign affairs, said the agreement will remove customs duties on a range of products exported to the bloc, including fish and other marine products. The Philippines, in turn, will gradually eliminate customs duties on industrial products originating from EFTA.
With the Philippine submission, the FTA will enter into force on the first day of the third month following the submission of the Philippines and at least one EFTA member state.
Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland submitted their respective instruments of ratification in 2017.
Ms. Legarda noted that the bilateral FTA is the country’s second, after the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).
Ms. Legarda is in Geneva as head of the Philippine delegation to the 138th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). — Camille A. Aguinaldo
