Marcos to discuss Philippine tariff perks with EU

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said he will bring up the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), a mechanism that allows duty-free exports to the European Union, with other world leaders.

Marcos is currently in Brussels, Belgium to attend the Commemorative Summit between the Association of Southeast Asian  and the European Union.

"We’ll bring it up with the EU. I don’t think one thing should be related to the other but we’ll see,” Marcos said in an interview.

In February, the European Parliament mulled the removal of some of the Philippines’ trading privileges should the government fail to address the alleged human rights violations in the country.

Under the GSP+, a mechanism that gives developing countries the privilege of exporting zero-duty merchandise to EU-member states, some of Philippine exports to Europe are benefiting from tariff breaks.

In the case of the Philippines, the GSP+ covers 6,274 locally-made products.

The country’s participation in the GSP+ will expire in December 2023. — Joahna Lei Casilao/RSJ, GMA Integrated News