Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila said the advisory council shall oversee industry activities, programs and make sure that problems are acted upon immediately.

The council is expected to be composed of the DTI, the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Customs and representatives from each of the garment and textile associations.

"It’s like a one-stop-shop concept where all requirements are being handled by one agency," he said.

A particular issue raised by the groups was the accreditation of customs bonded warehouse for the industry.

The creation of the industry council was resorted to after the four garment and textile associations met with Favila. These groups include the Garment Business Association of the Philippines, Confederation of Garment Exporters of the Philippines, Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines and Port Users Confederation Inc.

These groups reiterated their call for DTI’s support for garment and textile industry with the dissolution of GTEB, which used to oversee the entire operations and activities of the industry particularly the management of export quotas.

"I just assured that through DTI they should not feel having been orphaned," Favila said.

The DTI is also behind the industry’s initiative for a preferential trading arrangement with the US.

With the help of the DTI, Favila said, the industry was confident of being able to gain additional export markets.

The industry pointed out that Malaysia, Thailand and China are gearing up for greater access to the huge European Union market.

The domestic garment and textile industry is a billion export industry but about 70 percent goes to the US, a quota country.

With the abolition of the quota system early last year has posed a greater challenge to the industry to fight in a free-for-all world market particularly in the U.S.

Thus, the industry is pushing to conclude’a sector specific preferential trading arrangement with the U.S. before the full lifting of quota restrictions on China takes effect in 2008.’

At present, the U.S. slapped between 2 to 32 percent tariffs on Philippine garment exports or an average of 17 percent tariff.

Local players feel that given that state of global supply chain and needs of the U.S. and the capabilities of the Philippine industry, there is a strong possibility the U.S. will agree to the Philippine proposition.

Without the agreement, the industry, which now employs around 400,000 workers, is expected to lose 200,000 jobs, a 20 percent reduction immediate reduction in domestic garment’business and export revenue loss of between .2 billion to .5 billion by 2007. Last year’s garment exports reached .8 billion.

But once the proposed agreement pushes through, this means the inflow of 0 million new investments into the industry and hiring of additional 100,000 employes.

Once the U.S. agrees with the Philippine proposal, this will be the first of its kind for both the U.S. and the Philippines.

The U.S. has been known to pursue a comprehensive or full blown free trade agreement although it had implemented the socalled Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) model for some Middle East countries under its peace initiative in the Middle East.

The Philippines is also pursuing the same QIZ model.

Under the proposed QIZ model, products in the areas identified as a QIZ will be{s:r}

Under the proposed QIZ model, products in the areas identified as a QIZ are’allowed to enter the U.S. market at preferential tariff rates.

The QIZ was authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1996 as part of the Middle East peace process by engaging the troubled countries Israel, Egypt and the U.S. economically instead.(BCM)