Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the non-ratification of the mega trade deal Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) could mean lost opportunities in investments and jobs, while farmers lauded the decision of the Senate for allowing the incoming administration handle the trade treaty.
A proposed Senate resolution to confirm RCEP was not voted upon on June 1 – the last session day of the 18th Congress -- indicating that its sponsors could not muster the sixteen votes, or a two-thirds majority, needed to ratify the treaty. RCEP is touted as the world’s biggest trade agreement since it represents 30 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. earlier said he wants a review of the RCEP to determine whether the agriculture sector is adequately protected.
“There may be lost opportunities in investments, and jobs for our people, investments such as in agribusiness, manufacturing for exports, and services. Many investors we talk to always ask about our RCEP ratification,” said Lopez.
While Lopez described as “unfortunate” the non-concurrence of the Senate President Duterte’s RCEP ratification, the outgoing DTI chief remained optimistic, that the incoming 19th Congress will ratify early the trade treaty.
“RCEP has the support of the incoming economic team and we understand that it will be in their priority agenda,” said Lopez.
“I can only hope for the early ratification in the next Congress. We leave this for the next administration and next Congress.”
Lopez reiterated his conviction that any delay in ratification means “we run the risk of losing some export markets and the good opportunities in new investments as they shift to participating countries who are already part of RCEP system.”
Meantime, the farmers’ group the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) lauded the decision of the Philippine Senate to defer its concurrence with RCEP trade agreement.
“The Senate heeded earlier calls from the FFF and other farmers, labor and civil society organizations – supported by President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. – to let the incoming administration and the 19th Congress review the trade agreement and respond meaningfully to the concerns of the agri-fisheries sector,” the FFF said.
The group urged the next government to consult extensively with agriculture stakeholders on how to prepare farmers and fishers for RCEP, mitigate its threats on vulnerable sectors, and actually take advantage of export opportunities.
“Our sector’s opposition to RCEP is largely due to the mishandling of the issue by the Department of Agriculture. The DA stopped all consultations on RCEP in mid-2019. When talks were resumed in late 2021, changes in the agreement were no longer possible. Even then, the DA never acknowledged RCEP’s threats to the sector, despite data showing that our farmers were unprepared and our trade deficits were increasing by billions of dollars every year,” said Raul Montemayor, FFF national manager.
Montemayor further lamented that the DA endorsed and defended the recent reduction in tariffs on rice, corn, and pork and allowed the importation of huge quantities of rice, fish and pork, while insisting that the country’s sensitive agricultural sectors were fully protected and exempted from any tariff cuts under RCEP.
He added that even the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) went overboard by exaggerating the purported benefits of RCEP membership and issuing misleading warnings about the negative impact of non-membership on the country’s trade and foreign investment performance.
“Our farmers and fishers do not wish to remain poor and unproductive and merely rely on government protection to survive. They want to increase their yields and lower their production costs so that they can be profitable and competitive, even under trade agreements like RCEP. But they expect government to be firmly behind them and not just stand idly by, or worse,work against them,” said Montemayor.