US prods PHL on ‘restrictive’ agri trade policies B J E Y. A @jearcalas
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ASHINGTON continues to press Manila at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the Philippines’s current trade policies which the United States argued are “restricting” the trade of various agricultural and food products. In a recent WTO committee meeting, the United States fielded a series of follow-up questions about the Philippines’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures as Washington remains “concerned” that Manila is limiting agricultural imports without scientific basis. “The United States remains
concerned that the SPSIC [SPS Import Clearance] system is used to restrict the flow of trade,” Washington said in one of its questions raised during a WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) meeting earlier this month. The United States raised the matter during the WTO CoA meeting, as it inquired about the statement of the Philippines’s former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar’s on limiting onion imports. The United States noted that the Philippines will “manage” the importation of onion through the issuance of a Certificate of Necessity to Import, which will specify the volume to be imported and specific period for import
arrival. “Please explain how restricting the volume of imports over a given period via the CNI requirement prior to the issuance of SPSIC is different from a quantitative restriction, and explain the phytosanitary justification for implementing the CNI,” the United States said. The United States also asked the Philippines to explain the role of its Department of Agriculture (DA) as well as its local onion industry “in determining the volume of onions allowed to be imported.” Furthermore, the United States asked for clarity on how the volume of the CNI for onions would be determined as well as
if the Philippines has already notified its additional guidelines on fresh onions importations to the appropriate WTO committees.
Chickens, too
ASIDE from onions, the United States questioned the seemingly continued restriction by Manila on the entry of foreign whole chickens to the Philippines. The United States asked if the Philippines has imported a single whole chicken in the years 2021 and 2022 and asked for pertinent data about the matter. “Does the Philippines restrict imports of whole chickens from trading partners other than the C A
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Thursday, September 29, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 356
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Q4 typhoons won’t impact inflation much, says ADB
B J M N. C @joveemarie
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HE House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading the first full oneyear budget of the Marcos administration for 2023, amounting to P5.268 trillion.
Voting 289 affirmative and 3 negative, the lower chamber approved House Bill (HB) 4488 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on second and third reading on the same day. This after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued an urgent certification for its immediate passage. For his part, Speaker Martin G. Romualdez vowed that every centavo will be spent wisely to implement the programs of the Marcos administration aimed at revitalizing the economy amid the lingering ill effects of the coronavirus pandemic. “The expeditious passage of the proposed 2023 budget is the product of the collective effort of C A
B C U. O @caiordinario
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UPERTYPHOON Karding (international codename Noru) and typhoons expected in the last quarter of the year will not have a significant impact on the country’s domestic prices, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In a virtual briefing on Wednesday, ADB Director General for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramanian told reporters that with this, the ADB is unlikely to revise its inflation expectations for the Philippines this year. ADB earlier projected that commodity prices are expected to post faster growth at an average of 5.3 percent this year compared to the 4.9 percent estimated in July. ( full
story here: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/09/22/adb-keeps-phlgrowth-forecasts-for-22-23/)
RESIDENTS give away onions and other vegetables along a flooded road due to Typhoon Karding (international code name Noru) in San Miguel, Bulacan, on Monday, September 26, 2022. Karding left at least eight dead when it pummeled the northern Philippines, including a group of five rescuers who drowned while trying to save villagers from rising floodwaters. It has now weakened into a tropical storm over central Vietnam on Wednesday, causing blackouts and blowing off roofs and billboards with strong winds and putting Thailand on alert for more floods and heavy rains. Story on Karding aftermath on A4. AP/AARON FAVILA
“We do not have any specific concerns with regard to inflation being [driven] up in the Philippines. Clearly, the policy stance, policy measures that the government and the central bank have adopted certainly would be focused on managing inflation and bringing it down,” Subramanian said in S “Q,” A
‘Give biz owners a free hand on work setup’ B
USINESS owners must be free to decide the work arrangements for their own employees. That’s the stand of Go Negosyo founder and head of the Jobs committee of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Jose Maria A. Concepcion III. “I am not against the 70:30 on-site—work-from-home arrangement for IT-BPO companies. In fact, I was part of the council that recommended it and am the leader of the Jobs group which presented this suggestion,” said Concepcion in a statement on Wednesday. The Go Negosyo founder added, “What I am saying is that the recommended work arrangement solution for the IT-BPO sector may not be the best one for all organiza-
tions.” The private sector representative stressed that it is the business owners who are in the “best position” to decide which work arrangement is suitable for them based on their respective types of operations. “Businesses must be free to decide based on what their operations require,” Concepcion stressed. He stressed that the IT and Business Process Management (ITBPM) sector has its unique work arrangement and “deliverables,” as do sectors like manufacturing, retail, finance services, among others, “who may need to have all employees render in-person work at all times.” The private sector representative emphasized that “one solution
does not necessarily work for all,” adding that some employees may prefer the idea of a work-fromhome arrangement while some prefer the four-day workweek. He added, “but we can’t have the same solution for everybody.” However, the Go Negosyo founder noted that the country’s economic rebound rests on private sector consumption and spending. “We need more mobility if we want the economy to grow and for businesses to remain viable so they can generate more employment,” Concepcion stressed. Regardless of employers’ decision on which work arrangement they prefer, the private sector representative noted that “we must not lose sight of the urgency for
our country’s economy to recover from the pandemic, whether this is achieved through increased productivity or mobility.” Recently, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) decided to allow the transfer of registration of IT-BPM enterprises from Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to the Board of Investments (BOI). The move is seen as a win-win solution to the months-long standoff on FIRB restrictions on IT-BPM firms extending their employees’ work-from-home setup. With the transfer from PEZA to BOI, these firms can continue accessing fiscal incentives without violating SecC A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 58.9040 ■ JAPAN 0.4068 ■ UK 63.2217 ■ HK 7.5039 ■ SINGAPORE 40.9425 ■ AUSTRALIA 37.8812 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.6618 ■ EU 56.5361 ■ KOREA 0.0414 ■ CHINA 8.2039 Source: BSP (September 28, 2022)