LEGISLATION creating a separate agency to undertake foreign trade agreements was approved by the Senate yesterday, sending that chamber’s version into bicameral session where it will be harmonized with the House version approved as early as 2014.
Senate Bill (SB) No. 2922, the proposed law creating a Philippine Trade Representative Office (PTRO), was passed on third and final reading on Monday, setting up sessions to reconcile the measure with House Bill No. 5076.
SB No. 2922 received all affirmative votes from the 16 lawmakers present during the day’s plenary session.
Under the measure, a PTRO will be created to conduct and handle all foreign trade policy formulation and negotiations -- a function already being performed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Foreign Affairs, and to some extent, by some government line agencies.
The measure is expected to improve foreign investment in the Philippines, which continues to lag its Asian neighbors.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, net foreign direct investment stood at $4.987 billion in the 10 months to October, which pales beside Singapore’s $48.648 billion, Indonesia’s $16.906 billion, Malaysia’s $7.817 billion and Thailand’s $6.311 billion, all achieved in first nine months.
During the legislative process, the DTI’s Office of Policy Research said that the PTRO will only replicate the department’s functions. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the National Economic Development Authority, on the other hand, took the position of strengthening DTI’s authority in trade negotiations rather than creating a new agency.
The measure was supported by the government think tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies, which recommended responsibility for a single agency to eliminate turf wars among the various government line agencies and accelerate the government’s decision making on trade issues. --
Trade Representative bill goes into bicam after hurdling Senate
