(File photo)
MANILA – The Philippine Footwear Federation Inc. (PFFI) has urged the government to locally source footwear used by uniformed personnel.
In an interview Friday, PFFI director general Roger Py said the group is tapping lawmakers to include this amendment to Republic Act (RA) 9290 or the Footwear, Leather Goods, and Tannery Industries Development Act.
Py said the government can procure shoes for uniformed personnel such as military boots, shoes for seamen, and footwear for the police and firefighters among others from local shoemakers.
He added that a big portion of footwear for uniformed personnel is imported.
Py said it would be better if local industries will benefit from taxpayers’ money, and that will be done if the government will source its needs from domestic players.
“It will help us recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” he added.
He said the footwear industry was “affected badly” by the lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the industry has not yet restarted.
Py added that the school closures had a big impact on the sales of the footwear industry.
Aside from locally sourcing footwear for uniformed personnel, Py said the PFFI is pushing for the inclusion of footwear under the United States Generalized System of Preferences (US GSP) once the Philippine government applies for the renewal of the preferential tariff treatment.
The GSP grant to the Philippines has expired on Dec. 31, 2020.
If footwear will be included in the GSP, Philippine-made footwear can enter the US market duty-free.
Under the US GSP program, 70 percent of the country’s exports to the US enter the market at zero tariffs. (PNA)
