Intellectual Property Rights: The Deadlock in the EU-PH Free Trade Deal
Casaclang, Rowell G. | December 2017
Abstract
On 11 December 2015, the Philippines launched negotiations on its free trade deal with the European Union (EU), some three years after the two parties signed the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). In addition to being a prerequisite to FTA negotiations, the PCA functions as a general framework of relations between the two sides in the political, security, economic, and development spheres. The agreement, however, is yet to be ratified by the Philippine Senate.
The Philippines is eager to forge a more binding agreement with EU, currently the world’s biggest trade bloc, for several reasons. The EU granted the Philippines the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status in 2014, allowing it to export 6,274 eligible products to its market tax-free. A free trade deal with EU gives the Philippines permanent duty-free access to EU’s market on top of what GSP+ now offers and creates opportunities to attract bigger EU investments. The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry believes that a FTA with EU levels the playing field for the Philippines vis-à-vis other ASEAN economies that are also trying to close deals with that bloc. Singapore and Vietnam concluded negotiations with EU in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Citation
Casaclang, Rowell G.. 2017. Intellectual Property Rights: The Deadlock in the EU-PH Free Trade Deal. © Foreign Service Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/7973.ISSN
2423-2912 (Print)
2423-2920 (Online)
Keywords
Government Policy
Regional Organization
Regional Plans
Economic integration
Regional Development Bank
Preferential tariffs
International negotiation
Protectionist measures
Access to markets
Economic agreements
International trade law
Regional integration
Trade relations
Exports
Economic integration
Distribution
Economic integration
Development Bank
Trade policy
Regionalism
Regional Economy
Regional Trading Arrangements
Regional Trade Integration
Regional Economic Integration
Regional Cooperation
Interregional Cooperation
Trade Disputes
Trade Barriers
Free Trade
Trade
Trade Agreements
Intraregional Trade
Regional economics
Regional planning
Regional disparities
Interregionalism
Regional economic disparities
Regional economic blocs
Industrial arbitration
Euro
Inflation
Business
Finance
Free trade
Show allCollapse