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The United Kingdom launched the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, a program that will take effect in the Philippines on June 19
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DCTS aims to reduce or remove tariffs on an additional 156 products that developing countries, including the Philippines, export to the UK
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The scheme grants the Philippines access to duty-free, quota-free trade on 92% of eligible goods – or 99% of Philippine exports to the UK
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DCTS has the potential to save Philippine businesses more than £20 million, or roughly P1.4 billion, a year on UK export tariffs
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Philippine goods that will benefit the most from the scheme include high-value products such as tuna, shirts, maize starch and wheat flour
Philippine exporters to the United Kingdom will benefit from the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), a program that will cut tariff and simplify trading rules for exporters to the UK, from June 19.
Launched in the Philippines on June 7, the DCTS has the potential to save Philippine businesses more than £20 million a year (roughly P1.4 billion) on UK export tariffs, according to the UK government.
At the DCTS launch, British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils said: “The DCTS will cut tariff, remove conditions and simplify trading rules. It will increase trade and strengthen the trade relationship between the UK and the Philippines. I strongly encourage businesses to take full advantage of this new scheme.”
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual described the DCTS as one of the most generous trade preference schemes in the world, as it “enables the Philippines to have continued access to enhanced preferences.”
“We look forward to our country having access to duty-free, quota-free trade on 92% of our eligible goods – or 99% of our exports to the UK,” Pascual added.
DCTS aims to bring down or remove tariffs on an additional 156 products that developing countries, including the Philippines, export to the UK, in addition to more than 6,000 tariff lines covered by the European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+).
This extended coverage will include agricultural products such as tomatoes, olive oil, pet food, milk and cream, yogurt, cheese, flour, grains, and starch.
Philippine goods that will benefit the most from the scheme include high-value products such as tuna, shirts, maize starch, and wheat flour.
Tuna, for example, has an average annual export value of £40 million. DCTS will reduce the import duty on tuna by 20%. Shirts, which have an average annual export value of £8 million, will get a 12% reduction in import duty.
Following the UK’s official exit from the EU in 2020, it has introduced a new, simpler, and more generous trade preferences scheme to improve developing countries’ access to the UK market. The DCTS will replace the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences.
Trade between the Philippines and the UK reached an all-time high of £2.4 billion in 2022.
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