Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary for International Trade Group Allan Gepty said the country has untapped export opportunities in the European Union (EU) market worth USD8.3 billion that can be addressed by the Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (PH-EU FTA).

Gepty said this was discussed during the resumption of the PH-EU FTA negotiations in Brussels last week.

“There’s still a lot of untapped export potential in the EU market based on the study. It’s USD8.3 billion, and definitely on other areas like services and investments, we can explore more,” Gepty told reporters in a recent interview.

He said the resumption of formal FTA talks with EU is “very positive and constructive”, with the two parties making a “good progress in the first round of negotiation”.

He added the first round of formal talks focused on the elements, chapters and the text of the free trade deal.

The senior trade official said the next round of discussions will be in February 2025 in the country, followed by the third round in June, and the fourth round in October next year.

“We want to finish this as soon as possible for so many reasons. Number one, is that it’s a very important free trade agreement, it’s very comprehensive. EU is a major trading partner,” Gepty said.

He said the government aims to continue the preferential arrangement with the EU once the country exits the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) when the Philippines reaches the upper middle income status.

Around 26 to 28 percent of Philippine exports to EU enjoys the duty-free benefits under the GSP+.

“We have the EU-GSP+, the current platform that we use to enjoy preferential access market to EU. Now, if we hit the upper middle income status, let’s say next year, and you maintain that for three consecutive years, then you will no longer qualify as a beneficiary of the EU-GSP+. So in that context, there’s a pressure for us to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible because we don’t want to have a gap in our trade with the EU as far as enjoying preferential arrangement is concerned,” Gepty said. (PNA)