EXPORTERS CHAFE AT NEW DELAY IN EASE OF DOING BUSINESS I.R.R.
EXPORTERS are demanding that the government stop passing laws that it cannot roll out properly, as they lamented yet again the delayed issuance of the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) took a swipe at the government for the delayed implementation of the EODB and Government Service Delivery Act, which was approved by President Duterte in May. The law has yet to take full effect, as authorities have yet to issue its IRR.
“There are some laws which are supposed to be good, like the ease of doing business, [but] it has not yet benefited us up to now,” Philexport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. told the BusinessMirror.
“There are too many laws, and when there is a problem with implementation, they pass some other laws. That makes it more complicated,” he said, adding that it then becomes “a turnoff for a lot of people also, especially to investors.”
Under the EODB law, simple government transactions are required to be completed within three working days; complex transactions within seven working days; and highly technical transactions within 20 working days.
It will also reduce the number of signatories needed to obtain permits and licenses, among other government documents. With this, the EODB law is heavily banked on by the government, as well as the private sector, to improve the country’s rating in competitiveness surveys.
However, Ortiz-Luis claimed nothing has ever changed since the measure was signed into law in May 2018, nor when the draft IRR was transmitted by the Department of Trade and Industry to the Office of the President in October.
Trade officials argued the IRR can only be issued once the President has appointed the director general of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta). The Arta is mandated to oversee compliance of local and national government agencies with the provisions of the EODB law.
Business leaders told the government the EODB law should be implemented as soon as possible if it wants the country to recover from its dismal showing last year in competitiveness surveys, such as in the World Bank’s Doing Business report.
The Philippines—for the second consecutive year—fell by double-digit notches in the World Bank’s index on EODB. The 2019 edition put the country at 124th among 190 economies, down 11 places from the 2018 cycle.