EU monitors due this month to investigate GSP+ compliance
THE EUROPEAN Union is monitoring the government’s plan to bring back the death penalty, with the Philippines’ eligibility for a preferential trade arrangement at stake, an EU official said.
EU Ambassador Franz Jessen told reporters yesterday that a monitoring team “will come later this month” to see if the country is compliant with the conditions of the Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme.
GSP+ has allowed the Philippines tarriffree exports for over 6,000 products to the EU since December 2014. The scheme requires compliance with 27 international conventions, which include a commitment to never reinstate the death penalty.
“We will see. That’s part of the regular monitoring and I don’t want to preempt the discussion,” he said on the sidelines of a book launch when asked about the significance of capital punishment in maintaining GSP+ status.
While Mr. Jessen was careful not to preempt the monitoring team’s conclusions, he said that the EU can still “work hand in hand” with countries that practice capital punishment.
“The view of the EU on the capital punishment is very clear. We do not support it, of course. To become an EU member state, you have to abolish capital punishment,” he explained.
“Some of our closest allies have capital punishment and we work hand in hand with them too. So it is something where within Europe we have very strong views and we try to promote that view outside Europe too but, of course, we work together with all our partners.”
Mr. Jessen said that the report will be released “probably towards the end of the year but there is no firm schedule.”
The Philippines ratified in 1986 the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which binds parties to ensure basic freedoms like expression and religion, as well as freedom from cruel punishment.
In 2007, the country did the same with ICCPR’s Second Optional Protocol that committed signatories to support efforts to abolish the death penalty.
More than a decade has passed since the death penalty was abolished through Republic Act No. 9346, enacted in June 2006.
With the government intending to bring back capital punishment, local and international groups have appealed that this would put the Philippines in breach of the optional protocol, which has no opt-out mechanism.
A handful members of Congress and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) have cited the risk to GSP+ status as one of the main reasons for opposing the death penalty.
Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said earlier this month that GSP+ status could be sacrificed if it stood in the way of bringing back capital punishment.
However, he said that he would ask for EU’s “flexibility” in supporting the government’s priorities.
“I would just tell (proponents of the move to bring back capital punishment) that there is an economic impact, but in the end we’d have to weigh it alongside the political considerations, peace and order, and security impact,” Mr. Lopez said.
“If the President, the Cabinet cluster and maybe legislators would in the end bring that back — after a thorough deliberation of pros and cons — then I won’t argue,” he added.
Before being granted GSP+ status over two years ago, the Philippines had regular GSP privileges covering a total of 6,209 products — 2,442 of which are subject to zero duty while 3,767 have reduced tariffs.
Philippine merchandise export sales to EU increased 2.6% in 2014 — the year the country had only regular GSP status — to $6.73 billion from $6.55 billion in 2013, PSA data showed.
A full year with wider access for exports saw a 6.8% jump to $7.17 billion in 2015 from 2014’s downward-revised $6.71 billion.
However, exports of goods fell 5.4% in the 11 months to November 2016 to $6.26 billion. —