Exporters are strongly encouraged to use a platform that digitalizes and streamlines the process of availing preferential tariffs under the free trade agreements (FTAs) and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), improving price competitiveness of Philippine exports.
Christine Grace Victoria, senior trade and industry development specialist at the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), said the department’s Origin Management System (OMS), https://ftaorigin.dti.gov.ph/, digitalizes the application and issuance process for Product Evaluation Report (PER), a document necessary to avail of these tariff preferences.
“This PER helps verify whether your products comply with the rules of origin under a particular trade agreement,” she said in a virtual forum organized by the DTI–Bureau of International Trade Relations in collaboration with the Bureau of Customs.
Victoria said PER facilitates issuance of certificates of origin and reduces risk of rejection during export.
She said its issuance provides a processing timeline within 20 working days, subject to the completion of documents submitted.
Accessible via standard internet browsers, Victoria said OMS, which can be used by exporters and custom brokers, supports origin determination by applying agreement-specific rules to the product data under FTAs and GSP.
“The OMS provides a centralized document storage allowing our exporters to upload, organize these supporting documents. So in the system, it’s like it’s your storage, for example you have documents, you can retrieve it in the future in case you will apply for another PER. So these features aim to make the origin compliance more manageable and organized for our exporters,” she added.
Victoria said the digital platform for origin evaluation and documentation management is an important step toward simplifying origin compliance and enabling exporters to fully benefit the trade opportunities available through FTAs and GSP.
She said the system is a component of the “Origin Management System for the Promotion of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in the Philippines” Project of the DTI and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology.
The other component of the project is the FTA information portal which serves as a one-stop information hub that guides exporters on how to avail of tariff preferences in the country’s trade arrangements with key export markets, she added.