By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES and Canada are set to conduct exploratory talks for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) next month, an official of the Department of Trade and Industry said.

“We have a scheduled joint economic commission meeting in Canada this coming first week of June, and in parallel, I will meet my counterpart to discuss the possible trade agreement,” Trade Undersecretary Allan B. Gepty said on the sidelines of the Businessworld Economic Forum on Thursday.

He said that the exploratory talks will discuss the parties’ levels of ambition, extent of commitment on various chapters, readiness in certain areas, and the FTA’s possible scope or coverage.

Asked which products will benefit from a bilateral FTA with Canada, Mr. Gepty said that it will include electronics and semiconductors and some agricultural products.

“With the fast-paced advancement in technology, all these products or technologies developed are highly dependent on electronics, semiconductors, integrated circuit designs, and others. So that’s why it’s not surprising that exports of these products are also increasing,” he said.

“And we do have some agricultural products in which we have some comparative advantages, like bananas, pineapples, including processed products of these agricultural products, and of course coconut,” he added.

Mr. Gepty said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is also boosting the production capacity of certain agricultural products like cacao, coffee, and avocado.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said that an FTA with Canada will allow the Philippines to diversify its markets.

“An FTA would help increase two-way trade between the two countries. This is also one way to diversify the Philippine export markets and reduce reliance on the US, which accounts for 17% of the country’s total exports, the biggest share,” he said in a Viber message.

“The Philippines could also import more pork, poultry, and other meat products and other agricultural products from Canada to also reduce reliance and diversify from the US,” he added.

Canada was the country’s 20^th largest trade partner last year, accounting for $1.44 billion, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

Imports from Canada amounted to $894.14 million, while exports to Canada reached $550.65 million, resulting in a trade deficit of $343.49 million.

Aside from negotiating a bilateral FTA with Canada, the Philippines is also participating in the negotiations for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Canada FTA, which is expected to be substantially concluded this year.

However, progress for the regional FTA was slow, with only 3% of the text agreed upon since negotiations started in 2023, thus the ongoing deliberations whether an extension will be needed in concluding the negotiations.

Sought for comments, Federation of Free Farmers National Director Raul Q. Montemayor said that the group had participated in initial briefings for the ASEAN-Canada FTA but not on a bilateral FTA.

“As with most FTAs, our recurrent concern has been the capacity of our sector to supply quality products at competitive prices to avail of preferential tariffs and other concessions under these FTAs,” Mr. Montemayor said in a Viber message.

“In many cases, we are not able to do so, unlike many of our ASEAN partners. Also, we have flagged the increasing use of nontariff measures that have to be complied with in order for our products to reach the markets of FTA partners,” he added.

Mr. Montemayor also said that the Philippine negotiators should carefully look at the export interests of Canada and ensure that it will not negatively impact local industries, particularly the meat sector.

Citing data from the DA, he said that the country’s top agri-fishery exports to Canada include coconuts, other juice of any other single fruit, nut, or vegetable, other sauces and preparations, sweet biscuits, and other bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers’ wares.

Meanwhile, the Philippines mostly imports other wheat and meslin (other than seed), other meat of swine, edible offal of swine, peas, and meat and edible offal of chicken.