By Kris M. Crismundo
MANILA, March 11 (PNA) — The Philippines must prepare its goods and services to be registered for geographical indications (GIs) in order for the country to improve export value to the European Union (EU).
European Commission ASEAN desk office director for agriculture Laurent Lourdais, at a forum on EU-Generalized System of Preferences Plus (EU-GSP+) and GI in Makati City Wednesday, has recommended inclusion of GIs on free trade agreement (FTA) talks of the Philippines and EU.
“GI chapter is a must have in the FTA. Today, the Philippines should be ready to deal with GIs to get a good FTA outcome,” Lourdais said.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) defines GI as an intellectual property used as a distinctive mark which uses names of places to identify the origin and quality, reputation or other characteristics of products.
Famous GIs around the globe include Champagne, a sparkling wine produced from grapes in the Champagne region of France; Tequila, a distilled beverage from a blue agave plant in the City of Tequila in Jalisco which is a state of Mexico; and Darjeeling tea, a tea from the Darjeeling district in West Bengal, India, among other GIs.
“We can make use of these (GI) products to export more value to the EU market. You can make profit from existing trade preference scheme,” Lourdais added.
Currently, the Philippines is benefitting from the EU-GSP+ which provides zero-duties to 6,274 products entering the EU market.
The EU-GSP+, likewise, is expected to increase Philippine exports to Europe by 600 million euros in the initial years of implementing the preference scheme.
“The EU-GSP+ will not last forever… You have to prepare for that today, in that respect, the legislation your authorities working on today, to protect GI, will affect future export,” he said.
Aside from improving exports value to EU, registering local goods and services for GI will protect the country’s unique products and services.
“You must protect your GIs properly, before it’s too late, from case of squatting trademarks in other countries,” he mentioned. (PNA)