By Franclem Peña | Export Assistance and Buisness Matching Division | DTI-Export Marketing Bureau
02 February 2019
Published also in Business Mirror
THE Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) offers a wide-range frontline services to the public.
The Exponet or the Export Assistance Network, a unit under the Export Assistance and Business Matching Division (EABMD), maintains the network of cooperation among all government agencies regulating export products. Exponet is composed of export counselors and trade facilitation officers.
Export counselors, together with DTI-EMB product and market officers, guide aspiring exporters in starting their export businesses, by providing free advice on export procedure, product sectors and target international markets. They also endorse clients to relevant government agencies that offer further assistance. They also serve as resource persons in information sessions, trade events and other opportunities where knowledge in exporting and DTI-EMB free services can be shared with the public. Export counseling may be availed of at the DTI-EMB or via online by sending an e-mail to exponet@dti.gov.ph.
Exponet also spearheads the conduct of the free monthly information sessions under the Philippine Export Competitiveness Program (PECP).
To reach out to more exporters, aspiring exporters, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the public in general, Exponet published the Philippine Export Guidebook (PEG) for all Negosyo Centers. It can also be accessed and downloaded at www.tradelinephilippines.dti.gov.ph.
Trade facilitation officers assist exporters in finding solutions to the challenges they encounter in dealing with government regulatory offices. They kept themselves abreast with relevant laws, regulations, processes, procedures and work directly with their counterparts in other government offices in resolving problems at hand.
Trade facilitation officers evaluate and validates all requests received, consults the clients, prepares plan and coordinates with the agency or office involved. Preferred action is first to make sure applicants are compliant with the rules and regulations of the said offices. Then, the cause of the problem is identified. Last is proposing of, and working on, a practical solution.
More often, trade facilitation issues are settled at the lower- to middle-management level. If the recurring problem is due to existing laws or policies, a request for action is sent to the Export Development Council, the policy-making body of the export industry.
Trade facilitation officers also actively advocate ease of doing business for exports and helps their counterparts identify areas for improvement. They also contribute inputs to proposed laws, government policies or procedures that may adversely affect exporters.
The most common request for assistance received and acted upon involves problems on delayed processing or approvals of licenses or registrations by regulatory offices, both in the national and local levels.
There is also a notable number of requests involving returned shipments and non-approval of export shipments. Common cause is noncompliance to or unfamiliarity with trade and customs law, rules and regulations.
For issues involving foreign trade and customs laws, requests for assistance are endorsed to the Philippine Trade and Investments Centers (PTIC) and the Bureau of International Trade Relations (BITR).
Exponet also facilitates resolution of export trade-related complaints among domestic companies. If one of the parties is non-Filipino, said complaints are endorsed to the Export Trade Complaints Committee.
Other common requests involve company verification from both foreign and Filipino companies.
Exponet services are for free. They may be contacted via e-mail, exponet@dti.gov.ph, or office phone numbers (02) 465.3300 local 109, 110.