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The Philippines is negotiating with the United States
to increase quota allocation for garment exports, the state-run Garments
and Textile Export Board (GTEB) said yesterday.
"We are negotiating with the US to get additional market access within the
year," Serafin N. Juliano, the board's executive director told reporters
yesterday.
This came after Manila failed to get the support of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) on its complaint against Washington's implementation of
its Rule of Origin (ROO). This ruling has affected developing countries
like the Philippines.
The US adopted the new system in 1996 on its garments and textile imports
which credits the quota to the country where the fabric has been
originally source and not from the transshipment point of finished
products. The system - which was applied unilaterally to all WTO members -
drew flak from mostly developing countries that depend largely on imported
fabrics for garment exports.
The unilateral imposition of the system has resulted in losses to
Philippine garment exporters, forcing the US to compensate the Philippines
and other countries.
The US government, however, last year ended payments to the Philippines.
Had the US extended the compensation period as Manila has requested, this
would have translated to revenues amounting to $230 million until 2004.
For this reason, Mr. Juliano said the Philippines has opted to negotiate
with the US on a bilateral basis.
"We are conducting bilateral negotiations. If we were to quantify it, this
will mean an additional 5% to 10% additional access on quota," the Trade
department official said.
He said ongoing negotiations, which are being undertaken by the GTEB and
the Confederation of Garments Exporters of the Philippines, are expected
to be finalized by September.
Mr. Juliano expressed confidence the US will reconsider the Philippines'
request.
"We expect to get additional market access within the year. What this
means is that the US is going to look into the quota situation from the
point of view of the needs of the industry," Mr. Juliano said.
He said the Philippines is confident because there is already an existing
and growing relationship between Philippine garment exporters and US
brands because of the quality and efficiency of the RP manufacturing
system. An estimated 70% of the country's total garment shipments go to
the US. Despite these challenges for the garments industry, the government
is sticking to its original garment export earnings target of $3 billion.
This figure reflects a 7% growth from last year's $2.8 billion in
revenues.
Meanwhile, the local garments industry assured the US and other garment
markets that Philippine companies do not violate labor rules.
Donald Dee, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECoP),
said contrary to reports of Labor Code violations, the garments industry
are mindful of the plight of the workers.
A newspaper earlier reported that a garment manufacturing company is
providing diet pills to workers to induce insomnia so as not to stall
workload. |
