WT/TPR/M/368/Add.1 29 May 2018 (18-3249) Page: 1/152 Trade Policy Review Body Original: English/anglais/inglés 26 and 28 March 2018 Spanish/espagnol/español TRADE POLICY REVIEW PHILIPPINES MINUTES OF THE MEETING Addendum Chairperson: H.E. Mr Juan Carlos González (Colombia) This document contains the advance written questions by WTO Members and replies provided by the Philippines.1 Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales 26 et 28 mars 2018 EXAMEN DES POLITIQUES COMMERCIALES PHILIPPINES COMPTE RENDU DE LA RÉUNION Addendum Président: S.E. M. Juan Carlos González (Colombie) Le présent document contient les questions écrites communiquées à l'avance par les Membres de l'OMC et les réponses fournies par les Philippines.1 Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales 26 y 28 de marzo de 2018 EXAMEN DE LAS POLÍTICAS COMERCIALES FILIPINAS ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN Addendum Presidente: Excmo. Sr. Juan Carlos González (Colombia) En el presente documento figuran las preguntas presentadas anticipadamente por escrito de los Miembros de la OMC, así como las respuestas facilitadas por las Filipinas.1 1 In English and Spanish only./En anglais et espagnol seulement./En inglés y español solamente. WT/TPR/M/368/Add.1 - 2 - CANADA ............................................................................................................................ 3 JAPAN ............................................................................................................................... 6 ARGENTINA .......................................................................................................................12 AUSTRALIA .......................................................................................................................15 BRAZIL .............................................................................................................................20 CHINA ..............................................................................................................................24 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC .......................................................................................................34 EL SALVADOR ....................................................................................................................38 EUROPEAN UNION .............................................................................................................39 NORWAY ...........................................................................................................................59 SINGAPORE .......................................................................................................................63 THAILAND .........................................................................................................................63 UKRAINE...........................................................................................................................73 UNITED STATES .................................................................................................................86 CHILE ............................................................................................................................. 105 NEW ZEALAND................................................................................................................. 115 INDONESIA ..................................................................................................................... 119 MALAYSIA ....................................................................................................................... 122 SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU ........................ 131 REPUBLIC OF KOREA ........................................................................................................ 135 TURKEY .......................................................................................................................... 136 BRAZIL, FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS ...................................................................................... 140 CHINA, FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS ....................................................................................... 140 EUROPEAN UNION, FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS ....................................................................... 147 MALAYSIA, FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS .................................................................................. 151 WT/TPR/M/368/Add.1 - 3 - CANADA PART I: QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SECRETARIAT REPORT 3 TRADE POLICIES BY MEASURE: STANDARDS AND OTHER TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Page 46 (para 3.62) The Secretariat report notes that for the minority of Philippine National Standards (PNSs) not aligned with international standards, it is due mainly to long standing business practices, climatic conditions, the absence of specific international standards, and the need for higher requirements than international standards. In those cases where PNSs are not aligned with international standards due to the need for higher requirements than those of international standards, could the Philippines provide examples of products that would fall into this category? Please explain what is meant by “higher requirements”? Response: Examples of products where PNSs are not aligned to International Standards are steel bars, galvanized iron sheets and other construction materials, among others. ‘Higher requirements’ refers to requirements specific to domestic conditions, consistent with Paragraph F, Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement. Page 46 (para 3.65) The Secretariat report notes that the Philippines Accreditation Bureau (PAB), which is responsible for the accreditation of inspection, testing and calibration laboratories and assesses the conformance of laboratories' quality management systems with international guidelines, has accredited 243 conformity assessment bodies. Of the 243 conformity assessment bodies accredited by the PAB, how many are located outside the Philippines? Response: Three (3) foreign Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) are accredited by PAB as follows: Certification Body: Brixton Assessment Services, Abu Dhabi, UAE for Quality Management System, Environmental Management System and Food Safety Management System; Testing Laboratory: Intertek Testing Services Guam for Chemical Testing; and Testing Laboratory: SGS Guam Inc. Laboratory for Chemical Testing. 4 TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR: AGRICULTURE Page 64 (Para 4.15 and 4.17) The Secretariat report notes that the General Council granted the Philippines an extension of special treatment for rice until June 30, 2017 and that as of October 2017, the Philippines rice regime is governed by the status quo. Could the Philippines provide an update on its domestic process to tariffy rice? Response: At the Lower House of Congress, the bill is under deliberation by the Committee on Appropriations before being submitted to the Plenary for approval. At the Upper House of Congress, a version of the bill is being deliberated by the Senate Committee on WT/TPR/M/368/Add.1 - 4 - Agriculture and Food. Both Houses will transmit the bill to the Bicameral Conference Committee for a final bill to be approved. The approved version of the bill will then be transmitted to the Office of the President for approval. Note that both the Legislative and Executive branches of Government have given priority to this proposed legislation. Page 65 (Para 4.24) The state report mentions that “the NFA's operations include the buying/procurement of paddy on a nationwide scale at a fixed government support price. According to the authorities, the NFA only procures in the domestic market when the prevailing farm gate price of paddy significantly drops to a level that would deprive the farmers of earning a modest income for their produce.” Could Philippines indicate how often the NFA evaluates the farm gate price of paddy to establish new rice and corn procurement? Are these evaluations made as needed or are they done on a regular basis? Response: The NFA monitors the farm gate price of paddy frequently to assess the behavior of prices and to be able to reliably source the areas where the Agency can procure paddy. Determination of any change in the government’s buying price is done on need basis depending on several factors such as cost of paddy production; inflation rate, prevailing situation and outlook on the domestic/global rice market; income of rice/corn farmers relative to farmers of other crops and the government's capability to implement the program. The Philippines will provide clarification on the Secretariat Report on the statement, to wit: ”NFA only procures in the domestic market when the prevailing farm gate price of paddy significantly drop to a level that would deprive the farmers of earning a modest income for their produce.” Part of NFA’s mandated price stabilization function is the provision to farmers of a ready market for their produce by procuring their paddy harvest especially when prevailing farmgate prices of paddy significantly drop to allow fair returns on farmers’ investment. The paddy procurement intervention/activity of NFA is being conducted year-round to build-up rice buffer stocks for food security purposes 4 TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR: TRANSPORT Page 78 (Para 4.111) The Secretariat Report notes that foreign equity in a domestically licensed airline may not exceed 40%. Does the same foreign equity limitation (i.e., 40%) also apply to foreign equity in airlines licensed to fly internationally? If not, what foreign equity limitation applies to airlines licensed to fly internationally?