Papua New Guinea is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).

The Investment Promotion Act governs foreign direct investment in the country. Under Art. 27, certain activities are reserved for national citizens and companies. These reserved activities are specified in the Investment Promotion Regulation 1992 and, following the amendment introduced by the Investment Promotion (Amendment) Regulation 2021, include the repair of consumer electronics goods when this activity is not carried out in conjunction with the manufacture, wholesale or retail sale of such goods.

According to Art. 128 of the Companies Act, at least one director of the company shall be ordinarily resident in the country.

Papua New Guinea is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

According to Art. 48 of the National Procurement Act 2018, procurements up to PGK 10 million (approx. USD 2.4 million) are reserved for national companies and citizens with the capacity to supply the goods, works or services. For procurements above PGK 10 million and below PGK 50 million (approx. USD 12.1 million), at least 50% national participation is required, either through execution of at least half of the contract value by national firms or citizens, or through partnerships in which nationals hold at least 50% ownership. Procurements of PGK 50 million or more are open to all companies and persons.
For procurements in the first two value bands, if the lowest evaluated bid exceeds the Commission’s estimate by 10% or more, or if all bidders fail to meet the national participation requirement, the procedure must be cancelled and retendered without participation restrictions. The Board may also waive these limitations where restricting competition would not be in the State’s interest due to insufficient national capacity.

The Internet Transactions Act, the Consumer Act, and the Electronic Commerce Act collectively establish a comprehensive framework for consumer protection, the provisions of which extend to transactions conducted online.

The Philippines has signed and ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

The Philippines has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

The Philippines has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

According to List A of the Twelfth Regular Foreign Investment Negative List and Section 5 of the Retail Trade Liberalisation Act, as amended by Republic Act No. 11595, foreign investment in small retail enterprises is restricted to Philippine nationals. Retail trade businesses with capital below USD 500,000 are exclusively reserved for Filipino citizens. In addition, Section 3 of Rule III of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Retail Trade Liberalisation Act explicitly stipulates that this limitation extends to foreign retailers operating solely through online platforms.

The Philippines' de minimis threshold, which is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, has increased from PHP 10 (approx. USD 0.17) to PHP 10,000 (approx. USD 180) since the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (Art. 423) was passed in 2016. This is below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

In 2017, the Philippine government enacted the Philippine National Strategic Goods List Annex 2, regulating the strategic dual-use items for both export and import for national security reasons. Some of these dual-use items are electronics and computers that reach a specific technical level that qualifies them as fit for military use.

It is reported that corruption and irregularities in customs processing are widespread, encompassing unwarranted and costly delays, discrepancies in valuation procedures, the routine imposition of full inspection and testing on certain goods, and inconsistent fee assessments.