THE liberalization of trade resulting from participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is expected to affect only a limited number of agricultural commodities, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

Trade Assistant Secretary Allan B. Gepty said in a statement on Thursday that the market opening RCEP calls for the additional liberalization of 33 tariff lines to four trade partners, with most other commodities already subject to other free trade agreements (FTAs).

“In RCEP, basically, the Philippines has only offered 33 agricultural tariff lines for further liberalization or improvement specifically for Australia, New Zealand, China, and South Korea… This is only equivalent to 1.9% of the total agricultural tariff lines. Out of these 33 agricultural tariff lines. Seventeen tariff lines are raw materials, 8 tariff lines are inputs, and only 8 tariff lines are final goods,” Mr. Gepty said.

The commodities opened up to more import competition include an offer to Australia and New Zealand of reduced tariffs for fish fillet products dried, salted or in brine but not smoked. The tariff on such products will fall to 0% after 15 years from the 5% stipulated in the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). Frozen mackerel tariffs will fall to 3% from 4% under AANZFTA. Celery tariffs will fall to 15% under RCEP from 16% in AANZFTA. Sausage tariffs will fall to 23% from 32%.

“We really ask the agricultural sector to look at RCEP as a platform of more and bigger opportunities ranging from improved market access in the RCEP region, cheaper access to raw materials, wider cumulation area, trade facilitative measures, and even investments in smart agriculture and research and development,” he added.

Mr. Gepty said trade remedies are available in the form of an RCEP transitional safeguard, on top of the mechanisms available via the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“There may be cases wherein commitments made in the RCEP Agreement need to be adjusted or addressed due to exceptional circumstances that affect our economy and industries, as well as our farmers. For this reason, the RCEP agreement provides various mechanisms that serve as safety nets to address these circumstances. These are on top of the available remedies under the WTO agreements,” Mr. Gepty said.  

RCEP, which started taking effect on Jan. 1, involves Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the 10 members of the ASEAN.

The Philippines has yet to enter RCEP as the Senate was unable to ratify the agreement before adjourning on Feb. 3. President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the trade agreement on Sept. 2. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave  

THE fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry needs to consider how the pandemic has transformed shopping habits, according to data and consulting firm Kantar.

Kantar Philippines Worldpanel Expert Solutions Director Ledz Lim said in a virtual briefing on Thursday that FMCG companies need to adapt to the new consumer emphasis on value for money, e-commerce and sustainability. Return to school goods are also a focus area because of the lifting of restrictions on face-to-faces classes, while the industry must also adapt their channel strategy to the way mobility restrictions trained consumers for two years to patronize sellers within their immediate vicinity.

“With the return to neighborhood stalls (sari-sari stores), brands that can get themselves into the limited shelf space will be the ones who stand to gain the most,” Kantar Shopper and Consumer Insight Director Laurice Padlan-Obana said.

Kantar also noted that e-commerce will continue to grow, particularly as an avenue for selling personal care products.

“With only 8% of Filipino homes shopping online, there is a huge opportunity for brands to leverage this platform. However, the e-Commerce category will truly take off when shoppers turn to online channels to purchase their food and beverage needs,” Ms. Obana said.

According to Kantar, consumers will continue to switch to brands that offer greater value.

“With more than half of the 156 categories monitored by Kantar raising their prices by more than 5% in the last two years, shoppers will continue to switch to brands that offer them greater value. This search for such products that offer their money’s worth, especially among the lower socioeconomic classes, will continue and brands that are able to address this need can join the ranks of other growing and fast rising value brands,” Kantar said.

Kantar said the return to face-to-face classes will also boost FMCG categories that saw little action during the virtual classes era.

“This (categories) include those that will keep children safe and fresh (sanitizers, baby powder and colognes), while also ensuring that they have nutritious lunchboxes and are properly hydrated while in school. Moreover, households may see an increase in demand for laundry detergents with more instances of children changing outfits,” Kantar said.

“82% of shoppers said they are personally affected by environmental problems, while 68% admitted to not buying certain products which they feel greatly impact the environment and society. Moreover, Filipino shoppers believe that various stakeholders, including FMCG companies, (should play a) bigger role in taking action and pursuing a more sustainable path,” Ms. Lim said.  

Lourdes Deocareza-Lozano, Kantar Philippines Worldpanel Division new business director, said  shopping frequency is expected to rise in the coming months following the easing of mobility restrictions.

According to Ms. Deocareza-Lozano, overall FMCG spending during the last two years dropped 11%. The D income class posted the sharpest decline in spending of 12%, followed by the E category with 11%, C2 9%, and ABC1 2%. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

THE NATIONAL Innovation Council (NIC) said its new online platform hopes to improve collaboration among innovators and investors by encouraging more networking within the innovation ecosystem.

Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) assistant secretary, said during the virtual celebration of the National Innovation Day on Thursday that the online platform, called Filipinnovators that the system “will allow innovators and investors to expand their network, upgrade their knowledge and skills, learn from field experts, and collaborate for more innovative solutions. It serves as a knowledge recognition and co-creation portal and it also aims to be a venue for innovation policies and trends.”

Mr. Abad Santos said the online platform has a landing page on the NIC website, a profile creation page for innovators, a forum for exchange of ideas, and a section on training available to participants.

The NIC is a policy advisory body comprising 25 members from the public and private sectors. It is chaired by the President of the Philippines while the NEDA Secretary serves as the vice-chair.

In February, NEDA announced that the NIC is drafting the National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document which include a 10-year plan and outline strategies for achieving innovation goals. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

THE Department of Tourism (DoT) said it will work towards harmonizing health protocols across Southeast Asia to facilitate a travel revival as the pandemic wanes.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit on Thursday that the DoT is consulting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to make travel more seamless.

“We are talking in the ASEAN at least. We start first with Southeast Asia to see how we can all unify our health protocols,” Ms. Puyat said.

The key is to make the process “Less tedious. You don’t have to answer so many things and for the traveler to just not think that it’s such a burden to travel. We want to make it as seamless as possible. We hope that we can do it first in the ASEAN and then eventually globally,” she added.

Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports International chief executive officer, said there should be a single global standard for health credentials, or a health passport.

“We got rid of tickets many years ago. Now, we can actually digitize health credential passports onto a single platform and get that adopted. There is a lot of great effort going on in pockets. But actually, how we get that out there to a global standard is still probably one of the biggest hurdles,” Mr. Griffiths said.

“The technology is there. That is not a problem at all. It’s just getting the different health authorities around the world to accept that standard. People should come to the airport and feel that (it) is part of the enjoyable part of their journey. Not an onerous set of disconnected processes that they have to go through,” he added.

Craig S. Smith, Marriott International-International Division Group president, said that the proposed global standard would be a “game changer” if implemented.

“The hardest part is convincing different governments that it doesn’t have to be theirs. It’s out there. It would be nice to be able to use your phone to just show the same (health) form everywhere you go and say that I am healthy,” Mr. Smith said.

Global Rescue Companies Chief Executive Officer Dan Richards noted that the adoption of such a single standard could face resistance.

“We have to come up with a better set of talking points and marketing if we are going to get widespread adoption. At the end of the day, the effects are so huge, you want everybody to use it. Otherwise, we end up in a situation that we have now where you have bits and pieces scattered all over the place and it becomes a nightmare,” Mr. Richards said.

On Feb. 10, the Philippines started accepting nationals who can enter the country visa-free. Since April 1, the borders were opened to nationals. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave