Philippines Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in philippines, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Agreements
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ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement 

The 2010 ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) consolidated all Common Effective Preferential Tariff/ASEAN Free Trade Area (CEPT/AFTA) commitments related to trade in goods.  It seeks to establish a single market and production base with a free flow of goods in the ASEAN region, a major component of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).  ATIGA covers tariff liberalization, trade facilitation initiatives, simplification of rules of origin, and establishment of an ASEAN Trade Repository.  Visit https://investasean.asean.org/  for updates on ASEAN trade.

Philippines – Japan Economic Partnership Agreement 

The Philippines and Japan entered into a free trade agreement in 2008. PJEPA is the Philippines’ only bilateral free trade agreement, covering, among others, trade in goods, trade in services, investments, movement of natural persons, intellectual property, customs procedures, improvement of the business environment, and government procurement.

Philippines – European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement

The Philippines and EFTA members – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland – signed a free trade agreement in 2016 which entered into force in 2018.  The Philippines-EFTA covers trade in goods, trade in services, investment, competition, intellectual property, government procurement, and trade and sustainable development.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

The Philippines and 14 Asia Pacific countries – Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in 2020, which entered into force in 2022.  The RCEP agreement covers trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property, e-commerce, competition, small and medium enterprises, and government procurement.  In February 2023, the Senate ratified the Philippines’ membership to the RCEP.

Other Free Trade Agreements

Under ASEAN, the Philippines has preferential trade agreements with China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia and New Zealand.  Visit https://www.dti.gov.ph/ and https://finder.tariffcommission.gov.ph/  for a list of Philippine trade agreements and corresponding tariff schedules and commitments. Other trade-related information is also available at the Philippine National Trade Repository website https://www.pntr.gov.ph/.

For information on FTA partner countries, including how to take advantage of an FTA, please visit FTA Help Center.

Contact: 

Bureau of International Trade Relations - Department of Trade and Industry

375 Senator Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City

Email: bitr@dti.gov.ph

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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