Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Pays Courtesy Call On WTO Director-General
From left: First Secretary and Chargé d'Affaires of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the WTO, Mr. Arnel M. Sanchez; DFA Undersecretary and Ambassador-Designate to the WTO Manuel A.J. Teehankee; WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo; Senator Loren Legarda; Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Evan Garcia; and DTI Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo
03 April 2018 GENEVA — Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, paid a courtesy call on WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo on 27 March 2018. During the call, Senator Legarda emphasized her advocacy of ensuring that the gains from free trade and economic growth benefits the micro, small, and medium enterprises, farmers, and fisherfolks. The Senator, who is in Geneva to attend the138th Inter-Parliamentary Union, (IPU) Assembly, took the opportunity to meet with DG Azevedo to convey the Philippines’ continued commitment to the core principles of the WTO.
She also personally conveyed the completion of the process for the entry into force of the PHL-EFTA Free Trade Agreement. The Senator sponsored Senate Resolution 93, which expressed the Senate’s concurrence on President Duterte’s ratification of the FTA. The formal notification of the Agreement will follow.
Under the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements in the WTO, Member parties shall convey to the WTO, information on newly-signed FTAs, including its official name, any foreseen timetable for its entry into force, and any other relevant unrestricted information.
On 21 March 2018, DFA Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, Manuel A.J. Teehankee, led the ceremonial turnover of the original Instrument of Ratification of the PHL-EFTA FTA to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila.
The PH-EFTA FTA’s entry-into-force shall be on 1 July 2018. The Philippines is currently drafting the Implementing Rules for the domestic implementation of the Agreement. END
