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The Tambuyog Development Center on Tuesday warned that the latest
trade proposals in the Non-Agriculture Market Access (NAMA)
negotiations in the World Trade Organization may hamper the
safeguards Philippines have put in place to protect the local
fisheries sector.
Tambuyog said that among these trade proposals,
which are found in the July 10 text of the NAMA negotiations, is a
binding formula that leads to steep tariff cuts averaging 44 percent
of the average tariff commitment of 23.4 percent for the country’s
products—resulting in tariff levels of only 12 to14 percent after
the formula is applied. The tariff level of 23.4 percent is the
country’s commitment in the Uruguay Round of WTO negotiations.
“The government should reject the latest trade
proposals in the [NAMA] negotiations in [WTO],” the fishery non
government organization appealed to the government.
Arsenio Tanchuling, executive director of
Tambuyog, explained that the steep tariff cuts are due to very low
coefficient figures ranging from 19 to 26 in the formula for
developing countries.
Tanchuling also noted that binding the
country’s non-agriculture tariffs at such low levels of 12 to14
percent make the country lose the policy option to use tariffs as a
protective measure.
“Only by allowing the tariffs to remain
unbound can we retain the flexibility to set tariffs to either high
or low levels depending on domestic needs. Tariffs can even be
increased up to 100 percent, the maximum level allowed under the
Philippine tariff code, if that is needed to prevent seasonal surges
in fisheries imports that could lead to depressed fish prices that
would adversely affect the income of local fishers. Binding at lower
rates makes us lose this flexibility to use tariffs as a protective
measure,” Tanchuling said.
-- Ira Karen Apanay
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