IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba and CONWEP President Lawrence de los Santos signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on February 13, 2023. 

The MOU sets a framework for both parties to cooperate and ensure the protection of IP rights of CONWEP members and to adequately address trademark infringement and counterfeiting issues.

“If left unchecked, counterfeit apparel and footwear products may pose grave danger to the health and safety of consumers. It may also negatively affect brands, which have built their reputation on the high quality of their products and their compliance with legally set safety standards,” said Director General Rowel S. Barba.

“Moreover, counterfeit apparel and footwear products are often made under labor-abusive conditions which both IPOPHL and CONWEP do not tolerate,” he added. 

In the “Global Trade in Fakes: A Worrying Threat,” a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it was shown that footwear products and clothing (knitted or crocheted) from 2017 to 2019 were the top types of goods most subject to counterfeiting, with footwear accounting for about 25% of the total volume of global customs seizures during the period and clothing of said classification close to 20%.

Overall, the unified database on customs seizures of IP-infringing goods includes almost 465,000 observations in the three years ending 2019, up from the 428,000 recorded from 2011 to 2013.

For his part, Mr. de los Santos expressed CONWEP’s appreciation for the opportunity to work with IPOPHL.

“We are pleased to collaborate with IPOPHL on our common interest to assist industries in the global community to protect IP, a factor that can influence how global customers perceive brands,” Mr. de los Santos added.

Based on the initial work plan IPOPHL prepared, the implementation of the MOU will take on projects on stakeholder consultation, information sharing and capacity building. The draft plan has yet to be finalized with CONWEP to ensure an effective cooperation with maximized outcomes.

CONWEP is the largest association of the Philippine export manufacturing sector in apparel, travel goods and shoes, with members shipping to major global apparel and sports brands in the US, Europe and Japan. 

It advocates to promote business and investment policies and trade agreements supportive of improved competitive position and increased market access of Philippine exporters in foreign markets, including the protection of their IP rights. CONWEP is in partnership with various local and foreign offices and organizations such as the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the national association representing apparel manufacturers in the US. 

Believing in the trade opportunities that will be created by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement garments industry in the Philippines urged the Senate to approve

The Confederation of Wearables Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP) and its affiliate, the Coalition of Philippine Manufacturers of PPE (CPMP), noted that the RCEP Agreement is already enjoyed by RCEP signatories such as Vietnam — the Philippines’ closest competitor in the industry—since 01 January 2022. The RCEP allows manufacturers from member countries to source raw materials such as yarn and fabric worldwide, with the finished products qualifying for preferential tariff treatment under the Agreement.  

CONWEP Executive Director Marites Jocson-Agoncillo and CPMP Executive Director Rosette Carillo, through their letter furnished to the DTI, remarked that global brands have redirected their orders to the Philippines from Viet Nam due to the hesitation of the latter’s workforce to return to the factories because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

According to Executive Directors Jocson-Agoncillo and Carillo: “We need RCEP to sustain such opportunities. Otherwise, we again lose these orders, as well as significant planned investments on apparel and textile from countries such as China, Taiwan, and others, to Viet Nam which is expected to resume its operations in the next couple of months.” 

The sector was among those affected by the slowdown in the economic activities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and is still reeling from its effects. CONWEP’s data highlighted that almost 20,000 direct workers were displaced due to the global pandemic. Pre-pandemic, the sector employed 260,000 to 280,000 workers. 

In line with this, Diana H. Santos, President Emerita of the Garment Business Association of the Philippines (GBAP), has reaffirmed their support through a letter to the Department on the Philippines’ joining the RCEP. 

“We opine that the Philippines would be at a trade disadvantage if we are not part of the aforementioned partnership”, she wrote. 

The RCEP Agreement entered into force on 01 January 2022 for 10 Signatory States, namely – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam, Australia, China, Japan, and New Zealand. The Agreement will be implemented by South Korea on 01 February 2022. 

The RCEP agreement was ratified by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte last 02 September 2021 and is under Senate deliberations to secure concurrence.