Photo Release

Invoke the right to regulate the entry of goods: Sen. Imee Marcos, during the continuation of the hybrid public hearing on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement among member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and free trade partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, underscores the need for concerned government agencies to ensure that the country’s right to regulate the entry of various products, as a result of the agreement, is protected. According to Marcos, many are against the RCEP because of the traumatic experience from the rice tariffication which is seen as a “virtual surrender” of the country’s right to regulate. “So I hope that we would still invoke our right to regulate the entry of products in our country,” Marcos said Friday, December 3, 2021. Department of Trade Sec. Ramon Lopez assured the committee that affected sectors would have recourse for safety nets and flexibilities in the event of any unforeseen and unwarranted circumstances. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)