Abad, who is the director of the Ateneo Center for International Economic Law (ACIEL) is also a former administrator of the National Food Authority (NFA). He is also a former chairman and president of the Food Terminal, Inc. He also served as a tariff commissioner and was responsible for the determination of the overall tariff structure for the Philippines and the formulation of international trade policy. He presided over anti-dumping and other trade remedy investigations, and monitored regional and multilateral trade relations