Garment firms to be held to global labor standards

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) signed on Tuesday a joint department order that sets down the guidelines for the issuance, suspension or revocation of certificates of accreditation for garment companies.

“This order will help promote labor laws compliance and standards in the garment industry via certification and decertification mechanisms for companies who want to avail preferential tariff under the GSP (Generalized System of Preferences),” said DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez in a statement.

He said despite the “changing landscape of global trends, the production of goods and services must still conform to international labor standards for market access.”

Mr. Lopez, who is also chairman of DTI’s Board of Investments ( BoI), signed the joint order with DoLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III during the two department’s joint assembly for a program called Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City.

The accreditation certificate guidelines cover garment manufacturers, exporters and subcontractors who plan to avail of preferential tariffs under the GSP, a preferential tariff scheme that allows the Philippines to export to a number of destination countries tariff-free. The joint department order also creates a workers’ rights review committee.

DTI said the move was part of the country’s commitment to comply with global labor standards for the garments and textile industries. It said the joint order was a product of a series of consultative meetings of the two agencies with the Clothing and Textile Industry Tripartite Council and labor and employment sectors since 2010.

Mr. Bello said: “The signing of the joint guidelines for the garments industry on the certification on labor standards compliance will ensure that our workers have decent jobs, and that they enjoy the economic benefits that our participation in the global trade brings.”

“This joint issuance serves as a proof of the Duterte administration’s resolve to ensure that Filipino workers here and abroad can reap the just fruits of their honest labors even as their employers gain a reasonable return of their investments while ensuring business expansion and growth,” he added.