The tuna sector is seen to get the most benefits from a potential free trade agreement between the European Union and the Philippines, studies commissioned by the government showed.
Firms exporting tuna to the European Union however may be limited as the economic bloc has higher than average quality standards.
?"Tuna is a potentially bright spot if there will be a free trade agreement with the European Union as we have become net importers of fish in terms of volume and a net exporter in terms of value in the last three decades," Danilo C. Israel, senior research fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said yesterday during the consultations for the free trade agreement held in Pasay.
??Trading between the Philippines and the European Union on fisheries, however, could be hampered by the high standards of the bloc which could mean smaller firms will be unable to compete.
??"The sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards of Europe are much higher than the rest of the world and other countries in Asia already cannot meet these standards. This means it might only be the bigger firms that are able to take advantage," Mr. Israel said.
