Reaching the Consumers

Consumer Behavior: The Filipino consumer does not like ostentatious expenditure, gives priority to his family life, and is rather conformist and spontaneous.

Consumer Profile and Purchasing Power: Giving precedence to spending for oneself over the family is still seen as bad taste. The Filipino consumer devotes a major part of his purchasing power to primary expenditure.

Main Advertising Agencies: Mc Cann Erickson Philippines
Ogilvy and Mather Philippines
TBWA Santiago-Mangada-Puno
BBDO Guerrero Ortega
Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

Distributing a Product

Evolution of the Sector: The majority of companies use the services of agents, distributors, and intermediaries for distribution, who distribute on the traditional channels.

Doing business in the Philippines requires going through a broad network of subcontractors.
Market Shares: Among its 642 013 stores, in 2007, the Philippines had 638 826 traditional grocers, 1 550 local stores, 1 157 supermarkets, 22 warehouse stores and 458 shopping malls. 9 306 pharmaceutical stores distributed in 7 481 traditional medical stores and 1 825 industrial stores (Nielsen, Retail and shopper trends Asia Pacific 2008).
Organizations in the Retail Sector: Distribution Management Association of the Philippines (DMAP)

Main International Economic Cooperation: Asia-Pacific Economic Council (APEC), Asia Free Trade Agreement (AFTA, free trade zone of the ASEAN), Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and the ASEAN - China Free Trade Area.
Non Tariff Barriers: Imports generally enjoy a liberalised regime. However, imports of certain products are regulated and sometimes forbidden in accordance with the current laws, for reasons of health, national security, or international requirements or in order to protect the development of local industry. Imports are currently classified into three categories according to the degree of restriction they are subject to: freely imported products, regulated and forbidden products. For regulated products, an import license is necessary which can be obtained by applying to the authorities concerned (for example, certain foodstuffs or pharmaceutical products require the authorisation of the Food and Drug Authority). The third category comprises products which it is forbidden to import such as: explosives, firearms and war weapons, precious metals, narcotics, drugs, and coffee.
Customs Duties and Taxes on Imports: 6.3%

Customs Classification: The Philippine Customs system is based on the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) of the United Nations (Revision 2). Duties are usually calculated ad valorem, and specified in the Philippines Customs Code. There is a programme of reduction and simplification of the duties in conformity with the liberalisation policy of the Philippine Government. A Customs system which will classify imported products into only two categories is envisaged: raw materials and finished products. For these categories, fixed rates of respectively 3% and 10% duty will be applied.
For the calculation of import duties, the Philippines currently use the system of value based on the price of domestic consumption. Besides, the Philippine government has a contract with the services of SGS SA (Société Générale de Surveillance), a Swiss company providing inspection and valuation of imported goods with value higher than 500 USD, so as to avoid any over-invoicing or under-invoicing.
Import Procedures: All imported articles invite import taxes, even those having been previously exported (except special mention envisaged in the Tariff and Customs Code or another regulation). The entry form must be filled in at the Customs Office in the 30 days following the unloading of the last package, failing to do which amounts to abandonment of the goods and ipso facto confiscation of the cargo.

For Further Information: Customs office
Department of Trade and Industry
Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines

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Main Useful Means of Transport: Conveying products to the Philippines and everywhere in the country can prove to be a long and expensive process. As the country is an archipelago and due to the bad condition of the highway network, the sea route is the primary mode of transport
Ports: Manila
Cebu
Zamboanga
Subic
Davao
Airports: (Manila) Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Mactan Cebu International Airport
(Angeles City) Diosdado Macapagal International Airport
Zamboanga International Airport
Sea Transport Organizations: Philippine Ports Authority
Air Transport Organizations: Air Transportation Office
Road Transport Organizations: Land Transportation Office
Rail Transport Organizations: Philippine National Railways

Type of Production: Manufacturing of electronic components, textile industry, furniture making, food industry.

Multi-sector Directories: Catalog Online - A source of export products and services in the Philippines.
Philippine Business - Find a business in the Philippines.
Philippine Directory - Business directory of the Philippines.
Philippines Pages - Philippines's local business search engine.
The Yellow Pages - Philippines's B2B business directory.
Yellow Pages - Find businesses in the Philippines.

Manufacturers Associations of the Main Industries: 6 professional associations listed for the Philippines.

Trade Agencies and Their Representations Abroad: Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines
Enterprises Federation: Philippine Exporters Confederation
Federation of Philippine Industries

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