UK trade scheme changes seen boosting PHL exports

TRADE with the United Kingdom (UK) is expected to continue growing this year due to enhancements to the UK government’s preferential trading scheme, according to the British Ambassador to the Philippines.

On the sidelines of a forum on Tuesday, British Ambassador to the Philippines and Palau Sarah Hulton said the enhancements to the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) has been modified to boost supply chain resilience.

“There’s a new and improved Asia regional accumulation group, enabling the Philippines to source out inputs from across Asia and support inter-regional trade and supply chain resilience,” she told reporters.

Changes to the DCTS also include liberalizing the rules of origin for garments exports from low and lower middle-income countries, Ms. Hulton said.

“Essentially, this is going to allow a Philippine garment manufacturer (to use) 100% of input from another country for further manufacturing, and it’s going to reduce the number of processing requirements. That would cover things like printing, bleaching and dyeing,” she said.

The utilization rate for Philippines-UK trade is at 92%, Ms. Hulton said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz