Philippines - European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement

Last updated: 25 June 2024

The Philippines and EFTA members – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland – entered in 2018 into a free trade agreement that covers trade in goods, trade in services, investment, competition, intellectual property, government procurement, and sustainable development. The FTA provides the Philippines duty-free market access for all industrial and fisheries tariff lines.

When it comes to the focused industry sectors, Phililppines' schedule includes most energy products and their constituents including but not limited to: nitrogen fertilisers, battery packs and cells, heat pumps, and ICE cars. (Base commodities such as iron, alumina, metals, ammonia, steel, and aluminum are not included. Electric motorcycle is included but EV is not covered in the list. )

The Agreement also includes rules of origin and local content provisions. Goods are counted as originating from each country if:

  • wholly produced or obtained in the country
  • there was a change to the HS code applicable to the good at the four-digit level (CTH)
  • the good has a regional value content (RVC) over 40%
  • the good has a RVC over a value specified for that good. 

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